Fallen Maiden
by The Admirable Admiral
Summary: Disfigured in her battle for Beacon. Humiliated by her associates. Betrayed by her insatiable lust for power. Defeated and finally cast down by Raven Branwen. Cinder Fall wakes up to an unfamiliar land - a new path awaits the Fallen Maiden who once believed in destiny. A path to redemption. Dark fantasy. Like really dark. Be warned this is not your typical RWBY fanfic.
1. Chapter 1 - Fire and Blood

**Chapter One - Fire and Blood**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

 _I want to be strong._ Flames sprang to life in her palm, illuminating the endless abyss. A ghastly red specter materialized. A red-hooded Huntress frolicked around nonchalantly spinning her massive scythe. "You _were_ strong," giggled the Huntress, beneath her hood, her silver eyes shimmered menacingly. Feeling an incredible surge of hate, Cinder Fall sent forth a torrent of searing flames incinerating Ruby Rose instantly, even when reduced to ashes she kept torching it, her hatred burned hotter and stronger than any fire the Fall Maiden could muster.

 _I want to be feared._ The ashes twisted and rose, reassembling itself closer to Cinder. This time shifting into a tall woman with bushy, unkempt raven black hair, her eyes flared crimson with Aura. "If you were stronger, or more clever… You would have remembered to watch - " A bright flash of orange as Cinder sliced through Raven Branwen from shoulder to hip with a rapidly conjured glass scimitar before the dark figure could finish. "Shut up, SHUT UP!"

 _I want to be powerful._ The black miasma regathered itself once again, this time morphing into a woman all too familiar to Cinder. Long ashen black hair that shone with unnatural luster. Her eyes flared with amber Aura, her red and gold off-shoulder mini dress flaunted her curves, her legs and her pale white skin. She was a dangerous amalgamation of beauty and strength, but most importantly she exuded confidence with every stride she took. Everything Cinder Fall had lost. "Look carefully at what your lust for power has cost you - " The Grimm arm shot forth and wrapped its ugly gnarled fingers around woman's delicate neck constricting it, attempting to squeeze its throat shut, but its sinister composed voice continued to ring in Cinder's head. "Look at what the weak have been able to take away from you, you FAILURE - ". Cinder grasped her head with her good hand and screamed. Tears burst uncontrollably from her eye and she crushed its neck. Black viscous liquid splattered across her face and soaked her wine-red dress. Exhausted, the Fall Maiden fell to her knees panting and shivering in fear.

A gold compass swung back and forth in her line of sight, gleefully swinging like some odd pendulum as if mocking her plight. Cinder extended her shivering hand to seize it by its golden chain, and as soon as she touched it, the darkness vanished and Cinder found herself waist-deep in a lake as red as cinnabar, the stench of death filled her nostrils and she felt her hand reach for her mouth instinctively as her stomach turned.

On the near bank, three girls stood motionless, staring blankly into space, fresh blood spilling ceaselessly from the gaping holes in their chests to filling up the lake. On the far bank stood Ruby and Raven, both their lips curled into condescending grins. Cinder flipped open the gold compass, its scarlet needle spun feverishly but quickly halted, pointing her back to the near bank. Clenching her hand in a fist, Cinder shut the compass in frustration and started to wade clumsily towards the far bank. A bright flash of light and her obsidian sword materialized in her hand, her slick blood-sodden clothes weighed her down, but her face was livid with fanatical obsession. _What a shitty gimmick. Turn back? After I've come this far? Who would make such a choice -_

The blood lake vanished and instead Cinder found herself surrounded by flames, a burning village as far as the eye could see. Buildings were charred black as they were consumed mercilessly by fire, embers erupted from the windows, ash and glowing cinders blew in the wind reaching for the crimson sky. Villagers were lit ablaze, flames trailing behind them as they fled, screaming and colliding into one another.

A terrible roar came above, Cinder tilted her head up to face the starless night sky. Gliding through the skies on dreaded black, leathery wings, the massive beast made a hairpin turn back towards the village. The roof of its long ugly snout was bone white, its crimson eyes cast an ominous streak of red like a comet as it cut through the sky effortlessly.

The Grimm dragon opened its great maw, and infernal amber flames that lit its belly from deep within was unleashed in a column as the dragon made its pass. The flames parted around the Fall Maiden but she was brought to her knees by the sheer force of dragon fire. Pandemonium ceased immediately, the villagers fell deathly silent for they were but soot and ash. The ground quaked as the Grimm dragon folded its wings and landed in front of Cinder, buildings crumbled as it lumbered toward her, but she rose up to face it defiantly. The dragon took a deep breath and when it exhaled, bathed Cinder in an endless torrent of flames. She could only hold up her hands, shielding herself with the power of the Fall Maiden, but even with Cinder's affinity for fire, she struggled to keep the dragon fire at bay. The golden compass began to rattle and char on its rim as it heated up until it propped itself open, its needle spinning so fast it became a blur. Cinder started to buckle under the immense pressure, she let out an inaudible cry as she fought to hold the dragon fire back, her scream drowned out by roaring flames -

Cinder woke up, but continued to scream. Her teary eye wide open, her good hand tugging the sides of her now short unkempt ashen black hair, her Grimm arm concealed under layers of white bandage lay motionless beside her. Her right hand instinctively reached for the side left face. Her heart sank as she felt the rough deformity of scar tissue concealed under her bangs where she used to have smooth, flawless skin. Lashing out in anger, she set the closet in front of her on fire, dousing it with a tongue of dancing amber flames, licking and spitting as it consumed the closet and with it, all its contents.

"OH COME ON," whined the girl beside her. "Fire? Really? What's next tomorrow, we going to see winter before fall here? Geez Mum, your sleeping beauty has awoken; come give me a hand before she smokes us out of this place!"

Cinder threw the bed sheets aside to find herself garbed in oversized, unflattering white robes. The room rang with the sound of shattering china as she clumsily knocked the nightstand over while attempting to get off her bed.

"Your Highness, pleeeeeaase just stay in bed," complained the girl, rolling up her sleeves and tying her long tea-coloured hair into a ponytail as she hurled a bucket of water over the burning closet to extinguish the fire. "Don't make this harder than it already has."

"Where… Am I?"

"Well… Your Worship is in Mantle- " the girl replied sarcastically, but was rudely interrupted as Cinder brushed past her, heading for the moonlit balcony.

With a wave of her hand, shattered shards of glass reassembled themselves on Cinder's bare feet, morphing into her usual pair of glass heels. _Far from my best work, but they will do for now._

Taking a breath of fresh night air, Cinder examined the town. Below the shattered moon of Remnant, she saw rows of terraced, ubiquitous white buildings covering the town's landscape. _What? Mistral-styled buildings…?_ Frustrated, she turned her gaze eastwards. Though it was small, there was no mistaking the twin peaks that Haven Academy sat atop. Clenching her teeth, she wheeled around and shot the Grimm arm out, grasping the girl by her neck, lifting her high into the air.

"YOU LYING LITTLE SHIT!"

The girl gasped and struggled for air, muttering a faintly audible response.

 _Let her go, you dimwit. Do you actually want an answer? Or are you just going to make me kill another innocent girl?_

A familiar tingling sensation ran down the length of the Grimm arm. The Grimm was resisting Cinder's control, fighting against her will, even overpowering her own. Beads of sweat rolled down Cinder's brow as she struggled to wrestle for control but gradually felt it slipping away.

 _We don't need her to find our way back to Salem. Why keep this lying prick alive?_

 _Prick or not, this girl saved your life! She saved_ our _lives–_

 _Prove it._

 _Why are we doing this…? Trust me, we are LITERALLY on the same side, now just let go you idiot!_

Grudgingly, Cinder relented. She loosened her grip and the girl crumpled to the wooden floor, holding her throat, gasping for air. A bright vermilion flash illuminated the room, and a molten glass seax materialized in Cinder's right hand. _You must make it_ dread _you_. Holding its curved edge to her left arm, she lashed out with her mind.

I _am in control here. Try that one more time and I'm cutting you loose. Literally._

 _Whatever. Do it then. When that Spring Maiden… What was her name again-_

 _RAVEN!_

 _Raven. Yes. When she comes along again, there's no siphoning of the Spring Maiden's power for you._

Cinder fell grimly silent. Her foul temper at her inability to control her own arm was made worse that her arm was even winning in their argument.

Cinder's eye shot to the door as she heard the thumping of footsteps up the stairs. She retracted her Grimm arm, but kept the seax concealed behind her back.

The door burst open and a wispy woman with graying hair stood by the door. "Drizella…? Are you okay dear? What is going on up here!"

* * *

Cinder sat at a roughly hewn wooden table, drumming her fingers on its awkward uneven surface. Its poor carpentry evident by its poor attempt to even make it circular, worse it had splinters sticking out every few inches. To her right sat Drizella, nursing her sore neck from their encounter, glaring viciously at Cinder from the corner of her eye. Anastasia, Drizella's younger sister sat on Cinder's left. She had her short black hair in a bob cut, her hands were cupped around her chin, admiring Cinder with starry eyes. Her moldy wooden chair creaked as Cinder shifted uneasily in her seat, trying to put some distance between herself and Anastasia.

"I'm so sorry we don't have much food to go around dear," said Tremaine to Cinder, as the graying woman handed each of the girls a bowl only half-filled with piping hot porridge, "But this is all we got for today."

"Here! You can have Ana's bowl," said Anastasia enthusiastically, pushing her own bowl of porridge towards Cinder beaming proudly with her chest puffed out. "It's your first meal, don't be shy!"

"That's very nice of you, Ana," said Tremaine, she turned to face Cinder. "My girl has a point you know dear, you're going to need it to recover."

Cinder eyed the bowl suspiciously, but the Grimm chuckled aloud in her head.

 _They haven't poisoned it you know. They've had every opportunity to kill you while you were sleeping like a log._

 _Would you stop doing that?_

 _Stop doing what?_ _Stop reminding you to eat? Pffft, Honey you flatter yourself. We're attached at the arm whether we like it or not, if you die_ I'm _not long for this world either. So yes, please do make sure you live. Eat your fill. And oh yes, you_ do _have a reason to live I hope?_

 _Of course I do._

"W-well, I guess I don't have a choice then…" muttered Cinder taking a spoonful of porridge. _Gosh, this stuff is good._ She quickly lapped up both bowls until she choked and sputtered. Drizella rolled her eyes, but Tremaine and Anastasia burst into hysterical laughter.

 _What is this feeling?_ Cinder struggled to fight back the tears welling up in her eye, but she found her lips uncontrollably curling into a silly smile.

"How very rude of us," said Tremaine, trying holding back her laughter while giving Anastasia a disapproving stare. "Anyway dear, you've not told us your name."

"It's Cinder," she replied, but hesitated when she arrived at her last name. A terrible memory resurfaced - _A Fall Maiden with a surname so appropriate she probably picked it herself._

"Cinder… Fall."

"Well Cinder Fall, it's great to see that you're recovering well- "

"Pffft, _too_ well," interrupted Drizella sarcastically, still rubbing her neck, her porridge sat untouched.

"Drizella, be nice to our guest," snapped Tremaine. "Anyway, as I was saying, we've been very worried the last week. Gosh, we even thought we were going to lose you six times - "

"Seven," corrected Drizella. "You even had me get the shovel yesterday."

"Seven times," coughed Tremaine, clearing her throat. "Yet you always made it through. What kept you going dear?"

"Vengeance," replied Cinder as she slurped up the last bit of porridge. Tremaine looked disappointed at her answer. "Hate. Can't die till I've had my- "

"No no no dear, _destiny_ brought you here for a reason." Tremaine looked up at the ceiling as she spoke.

Destiny? Her memory flickered again. A girl with her red hair tied back into a ponytail knelt before Cinder clutching her broken ankle. She remembered standing over the girl with her obsidian bow drawn point-blank at the girl's chest, her cruel heart colder and darker than the black volcanic glass in her hands. _Do you believe in destiny?_

"Destiny…" Cinder shook her head and laughed to herself. "I've heard that before. Destiny's a real shit isn't it? It robbed of my right to power, robbed me of my right to revenge, robbed me of _my_ destiny!" Her right eye flared up with amber Aura.

"That is so… COOL!" exclaimed Anastasia, quivering in excitement.

Tremaine sighed. She looked down to examine the golden locket around her neck. "Well I hope destiny has something greater than revenge in store for you dear. It seems to me that you already have all this power, what are you going to do with it?"

"There's only one thing to do from here," said Cinder, her voice shaking with hate. "I will find them and I will kill them- "

"Don't be silly dear, there's never only one way forward. Everybody has choices, everybody makes their choices," said Tremaine, reaching out to hold Cinder's hand.

"Not everybody gets to make their own choices," sighed Cinder as she pulled her hand away. "Look, I really appreciate your hospitality, but I need to get going."

 _Hahaha... What's the rush? How well do you think Salem takes failure? Twice now no less. Why the haste to get tortured again?_

 _W-well it beats staying here with these…_ Weak _people._

 _Who are you lying to?_

 _Shut up, get out of my -_

 _You know Cinder, this is what family looks like. A nice dinner with smiles and laughter, surrounded by the people who care about you, take a moment to feel it, take a moment to feel like a human. But heck, I'm just a Grimm what do I know about humanity?_

"Cinder dear, you've been here for over a week now," said Tremaine, she stood up to collect the empty bowls. "Whatever business you have can surely wait - "

"It's fine really, I'll just stop by an inn or somethi- " muttered Cinder.

"Rubbish, dear. The nearest inn is hours from here on foot," interrupted Tremaine. "Could even take a day in your condition and those ridiculous heels of yours. Besides you already have a room here; it's not much but you did spend a week there, another night won't hurt."

"A-alright, I'll stay the night." Cinder sighed, blushing slightly.

"Lovely," said Tremaine. "I understand you are busy. Ana will show you around, maybe even take you to the Dust mines tomorrow. After all, that's where we picked you up. That might be a good place to start."

Anastasia winked at Cinder, and Cinder shifted in her seat again.

 _Dust?_ _Well this changes things, some Dust could help us on our way._

 _Yes, more Dust could definitely prove useful. Besides, these rags could use a Dust makeover, they're hideous._

 _Oh? Glad to know we don't disagree on everything._

"Oh, one last thing dear," said Tremaine, holding up the golden locket around her neck, and handed it to Cinder. "Would you be needing it?"

Cinder narrowed her eye as she studied the object, but was unable to make anything of it.

"It's a compass," said Tremaine.

"It's a compass that doesn't point north," Cinder shook the compass in frustration, its red needle danced frantically and she frowned. "Will it find me Ruby Rose or Raven Branwen?"

"I have no clue who they are, but it's going to be a long journey, you might need it to find- "

"Then I don't need it."

"Well you were holding on to it so tightly while you were unconscious. We even had to pry it out from your hand- "

"Just sell it or something. Might fetch a nice meal for the girls," snapped Cinder in irritation, she tossed the compass back to the graying old widow and headed for the stairs.

Tremaine sighed and strung the compass around her neck.

* * *

His lamp held high, Greg wandered deeper into the Dust mines of Mantle-3. Crystallized clumps of Dust and every known precious gemstone sparkled from their perches above like specks of light from a rainbow. Unfazed by the glamour of the gemstones, he knelt to study the pawprints in the dirt that was unmistakeably - _Grimm. Abnormal behaviour. These bastards are searching for something._

He tightened his grip on the handle of the lamp and headed deeper into the cave, his heartbeat quickened. A chill run down his spine as he touched the walls of the cave - it had a heartbeat. The tremors were slow and irregular, but Greg had no trouble recognizing a heartbeat when he felt one. _You're imagining things Greg._

The pawprints led Greg to a cavernous area illuminated from a crack in the ceiling where moonlight shone from the fractured moon above. Thousands of rubies the size of tangerines sprouted from the stone walls, sparkling as they caught the moonlight.

A pair of rubies moved, tracing an ominous red streak through the air. Greg immediately snuffed the light out from his lamp and dove behind an enormous boulder, grazing his cheek on a razor-sharp ruby shard. The ground shook as a second Beowolf bounded into the clearing from the fissure in the ceiling. Growing increasingly fearful, Greg reached for the hilt of his sword. _Just great. There's_ two _of these suckers now?_

The Beowolves grunted and snarled intelligibly at each other and a disturbing thought crossed Greg's mind. _Do these creatures_ talk _to one another?_ _What the hell are they looking for?_ Who _are they looking for?!_ His heart froze with dread - from the corner of his eye he saw a single drop of blood dangling from the corner of his cheek. He reached out instinctively to wipe it off, but as he did so, his foot slid over the sand and rock, tripping over himself. The pair of Beowolves turned to face Greg immediately, growling and salivating as they approached their slowly on their haunches. Greg drew his sword, feinting slashes as he retreated slowly into the darkness.

A powerful claw struck him from behind and Greg was incapacitated by a third Beowolf, the impact sent his limp body flying towards the pair. The pack pounced. They clawed and tore at his body, rending open his ribs. Blood burst from his open belly, paralyzed in shock as he saw right arm tangled in his own entrails. Gathering his remaining strength, he hacked and flailed impotently at the monster but his sword merely bounced off the thick Beowolf hide. His vision blurred, even his wounds started to numb, his body heavy and sticky with blood, his last breath spent gazing at the shattered moon of Remnant as it faded into darkness.

* * *

Author's notes:

Hi readers, this is the first fanfic I've written so please do go easy on me. My friend's RWBY x Fate crossover inspired me to start pumping out my own fanfic; my writing isn't half as good as his, but I'm going to try my best.

About Cinder. If you guys are a fan of the character, yes this fanfic will develop naturally into a redemption arc (which I hope to finish before Volume 6 drops and pisses all over my head canon), rest assured I intend to adapt her as faithfully to canon as possible. If you guys hate Cinder then rejoice, I'm a huge fan of Urobuchi Gen and I intend for this journey to be excruciatingly painful for her, after all there are worse fates than death.

About Grimm-kun. He talks. And he has that snarky personality that I hope will play well with Cinder's psychotic head. Cheers!

About the story. It will be mostly self-contained will be largely compatible alongside canon, with a cast of OCs and the occasional canon characters which I will not list till they appear because spoilers. Canon characters **will not** show up unless it enhances their character **or** moves the plot significantly. Also, potential spoilers for Volume 6 if anything I wrote actually comes to fruition, which I definitely can see RoosterTeeth taking Cinder down a similar path I have planned out. This fanfic will be dark, where shitty decisions are punished and characters **will** die because the God of Ink says so.

About purple prose. Yes there will be a few literary references peppered throughout this story, I will do my best to explain some of my narrative and stylistic choices either as I go along or somewhere at the end. First Easter Egg - the title of Chapter 1 is a reference to House Targaryen's motto in Game of Thrones. It also fits the violent imagery the motto depicts that I intend for this story to have and also closely aligns with Cinder's character - I mean she's all about fire and blood.


	2. Chapter 2 - Down the Dust Mines

**Chapter Two – Down the Dust Mines**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

"AHAHAHA she's not wrong you know," laughed Anastasia, clutching her belly to ease the pain.

"Mantle… In Mistral?" replied Cinder confused. Mantle, the defunct capital city of Atlas here in Mistral? Absurd, Cinder knew her history of Remnant well enough.

"Not Mantle, its Mantle-3!" said Anastasia, wiping tears from the sides of her eyes. "If only you'd let Drizella finish what she had to say!"

"So they've built three of these things?"

"W-well sort of. Mantle-2 was destroyed in a fire - some freak Dust accident they say," said Anastasia, scratching her head, the girl clearly had difficulty recalling her town's history. "... and they named the new town built on top it Mantle-3."

"Huh, really," frowned Cinder, but remained unconvinced.

"I'm sorry Miss Cinder, history really isn't Ana's thing..." muttered Anastasia.

The Grimm spoke as Anastasia was fumbling through her memory trying to remember her history lessons.

 _Don't stress your tiny brain, darling. It's not too hard to figure. What was Mantle historically known for?_

 _Their Dust?_

And _their trade with Mistral. It's really not that hard to imagine these mining guys here named themselves after the city that kept them afloat with Dust._

 _It makes sense. Dust powers everything in Remnant._

 _Good. Now for another question. W_ _ho's in control of Dust in Remna-_

 _The Schnee Dust Company._

 _Surprise, surprise you're brighter than I give you credit for. Expect the Schnees to have their dirty fingers all over this town. Already f_ _eeling better about putting a hole through their heiress' chest?_

 _Never felt bad about it. She had it coming; the weak don't deserve to live._

 _But_ you _do after your fiasco with Raven?_

 _Shut up!_

"Miss Cinder, is sewing one of your super powers? Your ermm... Semblance?" asked Anastasia as she studied the intricate embroidery on Cinder's now form-fitting mini dress that she spent the night re-designing from her oversized white rags.

"No," replied Cinder curtly, admiring her own handiwork with pride. "When you've made your own clothes all your life, you're going to get good at it."

"Cool... can Miss Cinder make some clothes for Ana too?"

"No."

"Pleeeaseee? But they're _really_ pretty- "

"No," said Cinder, fighting a growing uneasy feeling tugging at her heartstrings. "We're not having this conversation again."

Anastasia made a pouty face as they headed for the marketplace.

* * *

Anastasia seemed to regain her excitement as they stepped into the bustling square, waving around enthusiastically, greeting every other person she met as they passed through the busy marketplace. Some even offering her their produce for free, which she gladly accepted beaming back at them with her radiant smile. Though Cinder felt increasingly annoyed with the amount of attention Anastasia was drawing, something else in the distant caught her eye.

"Hey Ana, whose castle is _that_?" asked Cinder, pointing at the white castle that loomed high over the Mantle-3 marketplace.

Constructed entirely from pearl white marble, the castle had a clean symmetrical architecture, watch towers came in pairs, walls were perfectly parallel, even buildings were built in pairs of the same height. Cinder's eye immediately fell on the one high tower that stuck out like a sore thumb, breaking its otherwise perfect symmetry - a tower armed with a monstrous black ballista.

"That's where Jansen Argyros lives," replied Anastasia, she cleared her throat, straightened her back and continued in a deep voice. "Jansen Argyros, _Lord_ of Mantle-3, The Chosen One and errrr... Protector of the Realm." Doubling up in laughter after finishing her terrible impersonation.

"Protector? What _is_ there to protect here anyways?"

"Grimm mostly," replied Anastasia as she took a bite out of an apple and tossed it to Cinder. "Though those things haven't shown up in a long, long time. But the people still pay him for _protecting_ us... And oh! Jansen is holding a ball the night after, Miss Cinder could stay around till then,"

"Not happenin- " Cinder tried to interrupt, but Anastasia's voice drowned hers out.

"We could sneak into the castle... Oh! Miss Cinder could make me one of those beautiful dresses and-and we could pretend to be one of those rich ladies," said Anastasia speaking faster and faster, taking a deep breath before finally declaring, "It would be so much fun!"

"Look Ana, I'm leaving _today_. I'm just going to get some Dust from the mines, then I'm out."

"Well, where would Miss Cinder be going?"

"I don't know," replied Cinder, bothered by her own answer.

"We're here!" Anastasia grabbed Cinder's arm to lead her on.

They arrived at the foot of a mountain range that stretched on for miles, the twin peaks of Haven Academy was obscured under the thick clouds, but Cinder knew it was up there somewhere.

"The entrance is sealed up today," sighed Anastasia. "Seems like even Greg's secret entrance has been found..."

The _entrance_ was a simple crack in the rocks large enough for a person to pass through, but was now fenced up with malicious-looking barbed wire that hung a crude metal plate with warning that read–

"Entry strictly prohibited. By order of the Schnee Dust Company," read Cinder aloud. "Well screw that."

She snapped her fingers and the wire burst into angry red flames, twisting and writhing as it melted away. Anastasia's eyes widened with excitement, following closely at Cinder's heels as they went into the cavern.

"Miss Cinder, you're one of the four Maidens aren't you?"

"What makes you think that?"

"T-the way your eye lit up last night… and-and all that fire power to melt steel so quickly!" said Anastasia trying to contain her amazement. "It's like the stories that Mum used to tell Ana. You know, it's every girls' dream to be a Maiden, to be strong- "

"What if I killed a Maiden and took the power from her?" interrupted Cinder in a dark voice.

"W-well, that's not possible," frowned Anastasia in denial. " _Nobody_ can kill a Maiden."

"Can't say I wish that were true," said Cinder, feeling her hatred boil once again. The mere word _Maiden_ triggered memories of her encounter with Raven back at Haven Academy. How unpleasant it would be if she could never have her revenge because _nobody can kill a Maiden._

"Miss Cinder would be an extremely evil person if she did," mumbled Anastasia. "And Ana doesn't believe that."

 _Ahahahaha, this girl is talking to the most psychotic murderer in Remnant and you're not even denying it._ Still _she refuses to believe that you're evil? Maybe you should tell her you've already murdered_ three _young girls in your lust for power-_

 _Look, I killed those girls because I_ had _to-_

 _No you killed those girls because you're a psycho who seeks approval by killing others. You're even more of a monster than I am._

They halted as they reached a fork. The left led to a large cavernous space covered with oversized rubies and crystals of red Dust sprouting from its rock walls, sparkling as if a thousand red stars were shimmering in the night sky. The right fork however was dark and damp and narrow, with not even a single gemstone in sight. It sloped upwards but twisted and turned into the darkness beyond, a sight that would have repelled any explorer in these mines. Before Cinder could make a decision, Anastasia quickly grabbed Cinder by her bandaged Grimm arm and dragged her into the ruby cavern.

"Wow, they're all so pretty! Do you think we can we take some? Hardly _anyone_ would notice if just a few rubies were gone, right?"

Anastasia leapt and danced around, intrigued by how different every ruby was. Paying no heed to the dazzling red gemstones, Cinder noticed something at the corner of her eye. A viscous stream of black goo that snaked its way out of the ruby cavern. Retracing its path, Cinder quickly realized the only other way it could come from – the right fork. Her fingers clenched into a fist and she broke away from Anastasia's grasp to examine the black liquid. She already had an idea what it was, but she needed to be sure.

"Ana, I'm going to go check ou -"

Before she could finish her sentence, Anastasia wheeled around and planted something in Cinder's ruffled, ashen black hair. A ruby. A single ruby shard that fanned out like the petals of a flower - a rose.

"There. You look much prettier, Miss Cinder. _Now_ you can go off," smiled Anastasia, and Cinder felt her face flush. "Hmmm… now to find something that Drizella might like…"

* * *

 _Can you believe that girl? Of all the things she could have done-_

 _Charming, isn't she? Why don't you take that silly thing off if it reminds you… You know, of Ruby Rose? HAHAHAHA come to think of it, the girl even_ looks _the part doesn't she? I mean, the hair and all-_

Cinder abruptly slammed her fist into jagged rock wall so hard they both winced in pain.

 _Why the hell did you do that?_

 _Because you were being a prick. And don't you_ dare _compare Ana to Ruby Rose._

 _Ana? How cute. On a pet name basis already are we?_ Miss _Cinder, gross._

 _Maybe I should have-_

The Grimm jerked hard and Cinder scowled.

 _What now?_

 _Cinder, hold it. This is serious._

 _Saved by the bell? I don't think-_

 _I'm detect_ _ing something. It's Grimm._

 _Sure you're not just sensing yourself?_

 _No shit. I'm positive. This thing is big._

 _Ursa?_

 _No. Its bigger._ Much _bigger._

The black trail led Cinder to an enormous chamber that dwarfed the size of the ruby cavern, large enough to even fit the entirety of Beacon Tower. Razor sharp stalactites composed entirely of rubies, emeralds, sapphires as well as other gemstones hung from the ceiling. Boulders that were encapsulated in crystallized Dust of all seven colors lined the walls, beams of rainbow lights refracted across the chamber. At the center sat the monolithic statue of a dragon, though no gemstones nor crystallized Dust sprouted from the cold gray rock. It appeared to be carved entirely out of a single massive slab of rock, rearing on its hind legs the dragon towered so high it almost touched the ceiling. Its maw wide open as if in the midst of bathing the cavern with hell fire, its wingspan almost encompassed the full circumference of the cavern, and from its monstrous side, a trickle of black viscous fluid oozed slow but steadily. The beast was still alive. Alive, but petrified. A feat that Cinder had only seen accomplished once - atop Beacon Tower. A blinding flash of silver that froze the Grimm dragon, but also took her eye, her arm and left her once beautiful face horribly burned and scarred.

 _What the hell is that thing doing here?_

 _It's different from the one at Beacon. Its way larger and this one's got that long neck-_

 _Hehheh._ You _would know all about these things. Brings back painful memories doesn't it?_

 _Salem doesn't send these things out lightly. Dragons are few and precious. If this thing is stirring, there's only one reason - one of the four Relics is here. It_ must _be._

 _Cinder, are the bad memories screwing with your mind? Ozpin is an arrogant prick, but placing_ TWO _Relics here in Mistral seems hardly like-_

 _Is there a way to wake the dragon?_

 _What? Cinder maybe you should get some rest._

 _You heard me._ IS _there a way?_

 _Your mind is a bloody mess-_

 _Wake the dragon. Find the Relic... Yes, Salem would forgive me then... Right?_

Cinder broke down and fell to her knees, her hands buried in her hair, tears streamed down the side of her face.

 _What if... What if the_ real _vault of the Fall Maiden is here... Destiny... Yes-_

A shrill scream echoed from the tunnel behind her, but all Cinder could hear were the voices in her head, _her_ own voice. She sank deeper into the ground, sobbing and shivering in fear.

 _Cinder for fuck's sake, pull yourself together. It's Anastasia! Ana needs your help now!_

* * *

 _Ana_ _._ Cinder felt a tremendous tug as if her mind pulled in by a vortex and reality materialized in front of her. The rainbow Dust cavern, the gray petrified Grimm dragon, Anastasia was running towards Cinder, behind her a pack of Beowolves squeezing through the tunnel mere feet away from rending Anastasia's tiny body apart. Anastasia wrapped her hands around Cinder's waist, and her heart skipped a beat, fistful of rubies were wrung from her hands as she embraced Cinder. _The weak don't deserve to live, why the hell am I protecting this girl?_ Cinder clenched her teeth and stood up. With a wave of her hand, a tongue of searing amber flames shot forth, spiraling down the tunnel consuming the Beowolves, the rocks and all. Trapped in the tunnel the Grimm roared and writhed as the pack was roasted alive, leaving only rolling puffs of black smoke and charred rocks behind.

Anastasia tugged on Cinder's dress, pointing at the ceiling. Above them, a thousand glowing red eyes glimmered menacingly from cracks and crevices. A thousand Beowolves emerged from their caves growling and baying and salivating from their perch, ready to spring on their prey that so willingly entered their domain.

"Hmph... These bastards chose the wrong place to pick a fight with the Fall Maiden," smirked Cinder as she eyed her surroundings. "Ana, best shut your eyes for this one."

The Alpha sprang from its perch and the Fall Maiden whispered an incantation, drawing her power from the endless crystals of Dust. _Fire is my body._ The cavern shook violently as boulders of Dust unleashed a brilliant surge of energy. _And glass is my heart._ When the light faded, swords, spears, javelins, axes, halberds - every weapon known to Cinder materialized in the air hovering, constructed entirely of red-hot glass. A million weapons, a thousand aimed and ready at every Beowolf in the cavern.

 _Oh hoho, now_ that _is something I wasn't expecting._ Her Grimm arm chuckled, thoroughly impressed.

 _Die._ Cinder's lips curled into a sadistic grin. The weapons shot forth, striking their targets with unnatural accuracy - impaling the Beowolves through their skull or through their hearts, the glass pierced their tough hide as if it were water. The weapons struck with such force that it knocked the Grimm off their feets and nailed their bodies to the walls. When the dust settled, a thousand glass weapons fell aimlessly, sticking themselves to the ground with their handles up resembling the gravestones from a graveyard. Only a dozen Beowolves managed to retreat back into the dark crevices, those that did had glass swords still sticking out of their sides at odd angles.

"Consider this payment for saving my life, Ana. I don't owe you guys anything now- "

Footsteps echoed all around them, Cinder immediately pulled a curved glass scimitar from the ground to arm herself. A dozen soldiers emerged from the tunnel that led to the ruby cavern, covered from head to toe with ubiquitous gray body armor, they wore helmets with visors that obscured their eyes, armed with rifles and had pistols in their holsters. The troops kept their aim trained on _both_ Cinder and Anastasia.

"Drop your weapon!" demanded the commander.

"No," replied Cinder coolly, pointing the tip of her sword at the commander. " _You_ drop your weapons if you don't intend to become kebabs like those guys."

The commander turned his head to see the mangled, impaled bodies of the Grimm that were now slowly starting to dissipate and he cursed. His troopers, gave blank stares at one another visibly disturbed by the destruction that Cinder was capable of, some even lowered their weapons, others were shivering. Cinder tried for a smile, she was at the height of her domination, but felt only emptiness in her heart. Why did she not feel satisfied? The troopers clearly feared her power, why had it become so unfulfilling? _When_ did she start caring about something else?

Cinder's train of thought was rudely interrupted as a massive gash appeared, cutting diagonally through space and time. Anastasia hid behind Cinder, peeking out from behind her skirt like a shy child. The tear was twisted and warped on its borders as if looking through frosted glass, the cleavage expanded slightly and from its depths a man stepped out of the abyss. The man was strong and toned, his short blonde hair parted elegantly to the side of his handsome face, he wore pristine pearl white armor and was armed with a longsword encrusted with enormous sapphires. He wore a smile on his face, a smile all too familiar to Cinder Fall, the arrogant smile of a person who knew they were in complete control. But it was his eyes that unsettled Cinder the most. They were cold and devoid of sympathy; this man had eyes of silver.

* * *

Author's notes:

Phew that's alot of set up I had to get out of the way, hope you guys enjoy this chapter! If procrastination or writer's block doesn't set in I should be able to get a chapter up weekly. I will be updating this section if there are any pressing issues you guys have. Cheers!

About Unlimited Blade Works Cinder. The incantation was just meant as a call out for Fate fans, as far as I'm concerned she could have just said "Hocus Pocus" and the exact same thing would have happened. This is going to be a one-off event. She will **not** be going UBW-ing anyone else, I just seized the opportunity after seeing how she makes disposable glass swords in her fight with Raven and that now she had basically unlimited supply of Dust to draw the energy from.

About the silver eyed warrior. In my head he's a really powerful Jaune with silver eyes, even his name takes on the initials J.A. I debated between Argentum and Argyros for his last name but settled on the more Greek-sounding Argyros to make that connection to Pyrrha who also has a Greek name. TL;DR he's some version of Jaune + Pyrrha but as a silver eyed warrior.


	3. Chapter 3 - Eyes of Silver

**Chapter Three – Eyes of Silver**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

A thousand red-hot glass weapons buried their tips into the ground, lit from the inside by dancing amber flames. Stalactites composed entirely of Dust hung from above, scattering their brilliant seven-colored light illuminating the cavern. Gemstones the size of tangerines grew like fruits in these caves, but they seemed to avoid the monolithic statue of the Grimm dragon, as if some invisible barrier repelled their advance towards the dragon.

Cinder eyed the man in front of her with disgust, they had never met but already she despised everything about him. She hated his perfect blond hair, his radiant white armor, but above all she hated him because of his silver eyes. She hated their kind, she hated how helpless she became when faced against their kind, she hated how their kind, no - _Ruby Rose_ had so quickly maimed her eye, her arm, she hated how it made her feel weak even fearful to find herself against another one of their kind. There was only one recourse, only one way Cinder Fall knew how to undo her failures - _they must all die._

"Grimm," declared Jansen as he sniffed the air, ignoring the dissipating corpses of the Beowolves. Instead his ominous silver eyes fixed on Cinder, studying her hungrily as he paced around her. Once Cinder used to feel at home when men turned their heads to take in the sight of her perfect features, her pretty face, her curves that she loved to flaunt, but she lost her prized beauty when she lost the Battle of Beacon, a terrible price she paid to obtain the power of the Fall Maiden, nonetheless a decision she would have chosen again in a heartbeat if she could do it over again. The young lord's lips curled into a satisfied grin when his eyes fell on her left arm, the Grimm arm concealed under layers of white bandages. A disturbing thought crossed Cinder's mind. _He knows._

 _Yes. Of course he knows. Whatever obsession you have with that Ruby girl-_

 _I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill every last one of them-_

 _Or die trying? Is that what you were going to say? That Ruby girl, she was a complete amateur and look what she managed to do to you. Heck even at Haven Academy had Emerald not intervened, we wouldn't be talking either. This man Jansen, he's on a completely different leve-_

 _I don't stand a chance. Is_ that _what_ you _were going to say?_

 _N-no I never said that. Look we don't have to do this. Just walk awa-_

 _Why the hell would I do that?_

WHAT _are you trying to prove?! Even if you kill him, that Ruby girl would still be alive. Even if you kill him, your eye and arm would still -_

 _After today,_ _after I kill this man,_ no one _will question my power again_. _Not you. Not even Salem._

Cinder's amber eye burned with a new fanatical obsession, concentrating all her hatred, her darkest memories, her burning desire for revenge inwards. Her willpower grew stronger than ever, drowning out the protests of her Grimm arm, bending it completely to her will. She finally understood what Salem had taught her - dread. She flexed her Grimm fingers and smiled to herself. Complete control.

Cinder felt a tug on her skirt, she looked down to see Anastasia shaking her head in disapproval. _No. Not you too Ana._ She reached for the ruby rose in her hair, removed it and handed it to Anastasia, then forcefully pried the hem her white skirt from Anastasia's hands. From the corner of her eye she saw a shimmer - Anastasia was tearing up. But Cinder knew what she had to do, the perfect chance had presented itself to prove that the Battle for Beacon was a complete fluke. How could she allow her thirst for revenge to be hindered by the whims a silly little girl? She clenched her fists, faded red nails dug deep into her palms and she walked away from Anastasia never once looking back over her shoulder.

"M-my Lord," muttered the commander, his voice trembling as he knelt before Jansen.

"Captain, do remind me. What is the procedure for people who wander into this part of the mines?" asked Jansen coolly.

"Execution, my Lord," replied the commander, tightening his grip on his rifle.

"Why then are they _still alive_?" barked Jansen, reaching for the handle of his sapphire encrusted sword, his silver eyes livid with rage.

"F-forgive me my Lord- "

"Argyros," interrupted Cinder, pulling a red-hot glass sword from the ground as she approached. " _Silver_. What an interesting name. Did you choose it yourself?"

"And so it speaks," chuckled Jansen, turning his attention to Cinder. "Never knew those things spoke."

"You'll be surprised," replied Cinder, eyeing her now deathly silent Grimm arm.

"You know, I had half the mind to let you two leave this place alive," said Jansen, now so close to Cinder she could feel his breath, his cold silver eyes staring into her amber eye. "But to let a _monster_ walk out of this place- "

" _Don't._ Call me that."

"I call you whatever I wan-"

Jansen never finished his sentence. Cinder spun around and brought her molten scimitar down on the Lord of Mantle-3. A swift and easy decapitation it would have been, but instead an unearthly hollow noise reverberated as glass struck metal, incandescent sparks flew as the blades bit into each other. Jansen had intercepted her slash with a single fluid motion with his sword. His blade was iridescent silver, a clear indication of its supernatural make - the blade was forged from more than just a simple iron alloy.

Cinder let out a feral growl as she proceeded to rain quick successive blows on the Silver Eyed Warrior with both her swords, keeping him firmly on the defense. Keeping him on the defensive was key, she knew all too well the devastation his Silver Eyes could potentially do to her and depriving him of the option to activate it was her best course of action. Jansen managed to parry each and every blow, but only just barely, his actions felt sluggish and Cinder could feel the vast difference in their swordsmanship, she completely outclassed him. But something else unsettled her. He was smiling.

Sparks flew as they locked blades, Cinder shoved Jansen away as she tried to disengage but the Silver Eyed Warrior rebounded and lunged forward hungrily, slashing at her blind left side. _What a c_ _omplete amateur. Why the hell would he think it's easier to attack me here?_ She had long anticipated the move, she sidestepped it easily and landed a blow on Jansen. A draw cut that would have easily ripped his torso in half instead bounced harmlessly off his pearl white armor further fortified by Aura, instead shattering her glass scimitar. Cinder drew into her Aura reserves to conjure a new blade only to be met by a shocking revelation - a massive chunk of her Aura had already been depleted. _But how?_ Jansen never managed to land a single blow on her, yet it had been depleted as though her Aura suffered a dozen direct hits from him. It was almost as though-

"You're powerful, unnaturally powerful. I'll give you that much," smiled the young lord. "Most Hunters would have keeled over after our second or even third exchange with our swords. _Aura Break_ , my Semblance destroys the Aura of my opponents with each contact of our blades. You're tough, but eventually _everyone_ has their Aura broken against me."

Cinder scowled as she instinctively distanced herself from Jansen. To make matters worse her mind was a mess. A thousand needles pierced her head as she struggled with the effort to suppress the will of her Grimm arm and simultaneously formulate a new strategy to destroy her opponent. Even with her superior skill with the sword, she had no intention to deplete her Aura crossing swords with a complete amateur, even if she did manage to land a blow, a solid layer of plate armor prevented her from simply ripping the young lord apart. If Aura was going to be spent, it was going to be on _her_ own terms. She waved her hand, a dozen molten glass swords freed themselves from the ground and launched at Jansen.

The Silver Eyed Warrior grinned. His sword became a blur of iridescent silver as he swung it around, slashing and hacking at the air. The sword rended the fabric of space and time itself, in their place portals materialized that perfectly intercepted the trajectories of the glass weapons, consuming and banishing them to an eternity in the abyss. The Fall Maiden gritted her teeth in frustration, digging deeper into her Aura reserves, she commanded all the remaining weapons to dislodge and launch themselves at Jansen. A thousand weapons homed in Jansen Argyros with the same deadly accuracy that annihilated the hoard of Beowolves with ease. Cinder had enough weapons to shatter his Aura defenses as well as pierce plate armor with impunity, threatening to gruesomely impale him a hundred times over and then impale his bloodied corpse another hundred times over.

But Jansen's lips curled into a familiar arrogant smile, a smile that Cinder frequented as she gloated over her fallen enemies, a smile she wore when she knew she had won. This time the silver knight drew only a single portal with his sword in response just as the projectiles connected, a deafening explosion shook the cavern kicking up clouds of dust and dirt. When the dust cleared, there was nothing but a heap of shattered glass shards. No corpse, not even a single drop of blood. An unpleasant feeling tugged at her mind, a lesson she learnt the hard way in her battle against Raven. _Behind_ _._ She wheeled around just in time to parry the heavy strike from Jansen Argyros as he reappeared from a twisted portal above her. Brilliant gold sparks lit the cavern as they locked their blades once again, her Aura flickered and died - Aura Break finally had its due. The flames in her amber eye vanished as she stared directly into the gleaming silver eyes and she knew that it was over.

A blinding flash of light enveloped the cavern. An enormous surge of silver burst from Jansen Argyros' eyes and agony was all Cinder Fall knew. A thousand white hot knives pierced every inch of her body, even her Grimm arm screeched in pain, writhing uncontrollably as it combusted with brilliant silver flames. She screamed in pain but could heard nothing as she felt searing silver flames tunnel down her throat. The bandages on her face ignited and fell away revealing the ugly scarring that covered the left side of her face, her glass sword shattered into a million razor sharp pieces that ripped through her dress and dug deep into her flesh left unguarded by Aura, and then suddenly it was over. Cinder was sprawled on the floor, her torn white dress soaked red in her own blood, the Silver Eyed Warrior stood over her, the tip of his iridescent silver sword held to her throat.

It was over for her. She had underestimated her opponent for the last time and this time fate had finally caught up - she was going to die. All was lost for her... or was it? Through her blurred dreary vision, she caught sight of Anastasia. She focused her last thoughts on Anastasia, the girl that had given up her only bowl of porridge so that Cinder could have her fill, her lovely smile, her undying admiration for Cinder, a psychotic insecure murderer, what an irony. Was this what every Maiden felt before they died? Was this what it felt like to think about someone they cared for, someone they loved before they relinquished their Maiden powers? What a monster she must have been to rob this feeling from Amber before Cinder murdered her in her lust for power.

"You poor girl," Jansen smirked at Anastasia. "Take a good look at your fallen hero. Half human. Half Grimm. An abomination through and through-"

"Shut up, SHUT UP!" yelled Anastasia, tears began to well up in her eyes, the young girl was determined to be defiant to the end. "Miss Cinder is not any of that. She's a hero. She saved my life AND she's one of the four Maidens!"

Jansen doubled over laughing. A diabolical cackle that raised the hairs on Cinder's arm, he withdrew his sword from her neck.

"The Maidens. An old grandmother's story... I see what this is all about," laughed the Silver Eyed Warrior as he stared condescendingly at Cinder. "You don't fear death do you? Not right now anyways. But rest assured, there _are_ worse fates than death... Captain!"

"Y-yes, my Lord!" the commander stiffened up to salute the Lord of Mantle-3.

"I want _every_ rifle on AP rounds," he drove his sword down, nailing Cinder to the ground by her Grimm arm, the arm that Aura could never protect. She tried to scream but her damaged throat protested in pain. "Your target... _that_ little girl over there."

 _No. Not Ana. She hasn't done anything. Why?_

The cavern rang with the shuffling of uniforms and the clacking of the armor piercing rounds being chambered into the rifles. The troops bore their rifles onto Anastasia. Jansen twisted his sword, digging it deeper into Cinder's arm, she winced in pain and Jansen's smile widened, gloating over her the whole time.

"You are going to watch what a failure you have been as that little girl's hero. She will know how misplaced her faith was in a monster like you. You are going to watch her get torn apart," Jansen whispered into her ear. "And then you have my permission to die... FIRE!"

"NOOOOOO!" Cinder yelled as she tore her arm free from the iridescent blade, it dangled by her side held by a thin thread of Grimm tendons as she tried to rush to Anastasia.

The cavern echoed with the explosion of gunshots as the troops emptied their magazines. Anastasia's frail body was knocked back from the sheer force of rifle rounds, the armour piercing rounds bore countless holes through her tiny body, her blood splattered across the Dust encrusted boulders and all the gemstones became indistinguishable from rubies. Stray AP rounds ricocheted around the cavern, one shell ignited a column of Dust stalactites, triggering a series of explosions that dislodged massive rocks and the cavern rained stalactites of pure Dust from the ceiling.

Spontaneous Dust explosions propagated throughout the cavern, every explosion sparked the explosion of another. A massive falling boulder struck Jansen on the back of his head, his Aura prevented his skull from splitting open like an egg but nonetheless he crumpled to the floor unconscious. Cinder trembled as she stood up, she felt a searing sensation in between her shoulder blades - the emblem on her back had vanished. Her glass heels shattered as she stumbled clumsily, she immediately discarded the other pair and continued on barefooted. She gazed at the motionless body of Jansen Argyros amidst the rock slide, their situations were suddenly reversed. She now stood over him and could snuff his worthless life out by severing his head from his shoulders with her Grimm arm or pierce his heart with a broken shard of glass, her choices were plentiful but she knew what she had to do. She turned and ran over instead to Anastasia's body just as the falling rocks sealed them both away from the rest of the cavern.

* * *

"Ana... I'm so sorry Ana..." said Cinder, tears rolling down the good side of her face as she held Anastasia tight in her arms.

"Hehheh..." replied Anastasia weakly, blood bubbled and frothed at her mouth as she tried to speak. "Miss Cinder... So the stories were true. _No one_ can kill a Maiden..."

"S-shut up Ana, don't talk anymore, its making your wounds worse," said Cinder as she wiped the tears from her eye. She tried to apply pressure to Anastasia's gunshot wounds but there were more holes than she had hands to cover them and she soon found herself drenched in an unending stream of blood. "We still have time. Haven Academy is nearby... I-I'll fly us up there, they'll be able to fix you up."

She tried to ignite flames in her palm, what little Aura that she regenerated was enough for at least a short flight, but nothing happened. Her heart sank as she realized what must have happened. Even the power of the Fall Maiden had left her.

"Miss Cinder... It's fine," smiled Anastasia, her face deathly pale and gaunt from the hemorrhage. "Ana knows they will do mean things to you... if you enter Haven Academy..."

"You knew... all this time?" said Cinder softly, almost feeling ashamed of herself.

"All this time," chuckled Anastasia, her soulless eyes began to shimmer once again. "Ana is happy... Ana got to meet one of the four Maidens in her lifetime... That's more than what most girls can even dream of..."

"Stop it. Stop talking like that. You're going to be fine," lied Cinder, even though she wanted it to be true so badly, more tears erupted uncontrollably. "You're going to be fine..."

"Miss Cinder come nearer."

Cinder dipped her head and Anastasia planted the ruby rose into her hair then kissed her on her left cheek. It was the side that Cinder so desperately tried to cover, the side that was maimed and scarred.

"There. It looks good on you." said Anastasia, she summoned all her strength but could only muster one final weak smile before the sparkle left her amber eyes forever and Cinder was once again left abandoned all alone in the darkness.

* * *

Author's notes:

Yes, this is the kind of story you guys are in for. Darkness, death and even more darkness. This is a hopeless, desolate world. This is a story where the line between heroes and villains are razor thin (Hey! just like real life!), this is a story where love doesn't win and it pays to be evil. On a side note, Chapter 3 took a tad longer than expected, a lot has happened over just this one chapter, I feel like I covered waaaay more ground in 3 Chapters than Volume 5 managed to do in 3 episodes. With all the crazy shit I had in mind, I had to rewrite this chapter quite a few times just to get it right by me. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next chapter. Cheers!


	4. Chapter 4 - Silver's Cry

**Chapter Four – Silver's Cry**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

"Drizella, the door go get it!"

"Alright Mum... It's probably Ana, she was supposed to be back two hours ago..." sighed Drizella, whipping her long tea colored hair back as she reached for the door.

"When is that girl going to- "

 _Learn_ _._ Drizella left her sentence unfinished, her face lost all it's color as she saw the figure standing by the door. Cinder was drenched in dried blood that stained her white mini dress, the dress had intricate swirling gold embroidery along its length but it was also torn in places where shards of glass had pierced through. Drizella's eyes traced the trail of blood to find Anastasia held tight in Cinder's arms, the girl's cold lifeless body pierced by a hundred bullet holes.

Before Cinder could utter a word, Drizella slapped Cinder across her left cheek and tears began to well up in Drizella's green eyes.

"You murderer!" shouted Drizella.

Cinder felt the heat course through her left cheek. It burned hotter than when Ruby Rose's silver eyes had maimed her atop Beacon Tower. It burned with shame, the shame of being slapped by an ordinary girl with no power, the shame of failure. She tried for a rebuttal, but realized how futile it was. She had saved Ana from the cruel fate of being torn apart by Beowolves, only to immediately fail to save her another cruel fate. In the end _did_ she really save Ana? Did it matter that she even tried to save Ana? Was Ana destined to die either way? How could destiny be so cruel?

"Drizella, what is going on-" Tremaine gasped in shock and ran over to hug Anastasia's body, blood smeared her face as she rubbed her face against Anastasia's.

"Drizella... I-I didn't do it..." Cinder stuttered.

"Murderer..." chanted Drizella like a broken record. "Murderer, murderer, murderer!"

"I-I can explain- "

"I always knew you had it in you. But for you to do it to Ana too... You monster!" screamed Drizella cupping her hands over her ears in denial.

 _Monster._ There was that word again. Drizella was right, she was a monster but she didn't kill Ana. Cinder simply wanted to prove herself but Ana paid the price for her poor decision, if only she had walked away like her Grimm arm suggested, Ana would still be alive.

"Drizella that's enough!" said Tremaine, she too had her face drenched in tears as she took Anastasia's body from Cinder. "Let's not make a scene. Heaven's sake we just lost Ana!"

"No," frowned Drizella. "Let's."

"These are gunshot wounds, Drizella. Cinder is the Fall Maiden, she doesn't need to- "

" _Is_ she the Fall Maiden," scoffed Drizella. "When has she ever been worthy to hold such power- "

"Worthy," chuckled Cinder in disbelief, her patience snapped and she felt her anger rise inside her. How dare that girl challenge her. "Tell me then, what did the all-so-noble Amber do to become the Fall Maiden?"

Drizella tried to respond but was rudely interrupted by Cinder.

"No. Don't answer that question. It's obvious isn't it? She got it from her mother. How _worthy,_ " said Cinder, her voice now shaking as she tried to contain her rage. " _I_ had to earn my right to power, _I_ had to force the hand of destiny, _I_ lost an eye and an arm to become the Fall Maiden. I have lied and stolen and killed to be who I am today. What did Amber do? That's right. _Nothing_. And somehow she is worthy and I'm not? Don't you _dare_ talk to me about being worthy."

Drizella sprang into action, raising her hand to slap Cinder once again. This time the fallen Maiden deftly caught her by the wrist, her amber eye livid with anger.

"Go on. Kill me too. Prove me right." spat Drizella with the same defiance that Ana had shown in the Dust mines.

 _So be it._ Cinder concentrated her hate, she instinctively tried to conjure a massive pyre to incinerate Drizella and scatter her ashes as she did Pyrrha, but nothing happened - she no longer possessed the power of the Fall Maiden, fire would no longer answer her call. She shoved Drizella in impotent rage, the girl fell to the ground and bit her lip, but kept glaring at Cinder in defiance from the side of her eyes.

"Just as I thought. You've lost it." breathed Drizella spitefully, wiping blood from her mouth.

"That's enough!" yelled Tremaine turning on the two girls, shimmering tears streaming down her face. "To your rooms, _b_ _oth_ of you!"

* * *

"Your Grace... She's badly injured but still alive. Third degree burns all over _and_ it seems she's lost her eye. Her arm... Well her arm is severely damaged but given enough time it will heal."

"Good job Arthur, we shall begin as planned."

Cinder screamed and flailed in protest but found herself bound and strapped to a crude bone white slab of stone. Her lustrous locks of ashen black hair was singed and destroyed, her left arm was maimed beyond recognition; only a few strips of charred tendons clung on to her bones, she tried to flex her fingers but her arm could barely move in response. Her left face burned as though a flaming torch bad been pressed onto it, she could even smell her own burnt flesh. Her eyes darted around frantically scanning the room, her heart sank when she realized that she had lost judgment of her depth of field - she was missing her left eye.

"Ah yes, our Fall Maiden awakens," the towering black figure turned to face Cinder and she flinched at the sight of her master. The Queen of the Grimm had bone white hair tied into a bun, purple deathly veins crawled up her pale white skin like untamed vines. But her eyes were a terrifying sight to behold - no human alive had eyes like hers. Her irises were as red as blood that glowed unnaturally in the dim candlelit room contrasted by jet black sclerae. "Arthur here says that you lost your eye; there's nothing we can do about that. But your arm... Your arm will take time to heal. Time that we do not have."

Cinder's only remaining eye widened with shock. She struggled against her bonds with all her might but quickly realized it was futile.

"Regrettably, we also lost your pretty face, it's a real shame. I had further use for that, but no matter..." Salem said in a cold, dark voice, her thin lips curled into a grin that curdled Cinder's blood. "Then again, you aren't the girl who wanted to be pretty. You're the girl who wanted to powerful... I hope that's still the case?"

Cinder nodded her head slowly.

"SAY IT!" thundered Salem.

"Yes..." whispered Cinder.

"Good," she turned to face Arthur Watts, and he too flinched at the sight of Salem. "You may proceed, Arthur."

"Yes, Your Grace."

The disgraced doctor pushed an operating cart to Cinder's side. Syringes, scalpels of all sizes gleamed silver in the dim candlelit room, but beside the pristine silverware was the ugly stump of a severed arm, a _Grimm_ arm.

"You see dear, we can't afford to have our _only_ Maiden out of commission while your arm recovers," said Salem, laughing sadistically. "A replacement would be... An elegant solution to the mess you've made. You wanted more power, I _will_ give you more power. I'm a woman of my word."

"Please... No..." Cinder shook her head frantically, she had already lost her eye, she wasn't about to give up her arm without a fight, no matter how maimed it was.

"Then dear... You have outlived your usefulness," retorted Salem coldly. She reached into the depths of her robes and withdrew a smoky black dagger. The dagger was neither metal nor obsidian, but conspicuously similar to the black essence of Grimm, its razor sharp edge danced lividly with black miasma, its curved tip pointed straight at Cinder's frantically beating heart. "Arthur, call for Emerald."

Arthur lowered his head and headed for the door. Cinder realized what was going on, she frantically tried to erase all thoughts of Emerald from her mind, but her mind was no longer hers - Salem was telepathically swirling the contents of her memories. The power of the Fall Maiden she had fought so hard to attain was going to be transferred to Emerald.

Cinder tried to resist Salem's mental probe with all her might but she finally yielded, "A-Alright, I'll do it..."

"Arthur...!"

Dr Watts wheeled around in frustration, heading back to the stone slab. He held up a gleaming silver syringe and primed its needle, a luminous green liquid oozed from its tip.

"Arthur, _what_ are you doing?" Salem asked.

"Y-your Grace, its an anesthetic-" stuttered the doctor as he tried to explain himself.

"Put that silly thing away," Salem's blood red eyes narrowed in anger. "She won't be needing it. She needs to _feel_ the extent of her failure."

"Well then Cinder darling," scoffed Arthur Watts, eyeing his gleaming scalpel with utmost pleasure, a wide grin spread across his face. The time had finally come to pay Cinder back for all the times she had trampled over her associates with her superior strength. Today, all her power didn't matter, the Fall Maiden was completely at his mercy. "I'm going to try not to enjoy this."

Cinder spat in defiance, determined to deny him the pleasure of watching her suffer. _I'm not going to scream. It's what he wants. Be strong. Be feared. Be powerful._ The scalpel slid through her flesh, grating her bone and Cinder Fall screamed. She screamed so loudly her already damaged throat tore itself asunder but she kept on screaming.

* * *

Cinder awoke screaming and panting. _That_ _nightmare_ _again_. It was already night time, she judged from the moonlight spilling into her bedroom. She had fallen asleep whilst fashioning herself new clothes. A long, flowing black dress with shards of powdered Dust that sparkled with the seven colors of the elemental Dust she infused, it shone as if Cinder had woven the stars of the night sky itself into the very fabric of the dress. She was amazed by her excellent handiwork as usual, but something tugged at her heartstrings - the dress was stitched together from the remnants of Ana's old clothes. Ana's voice echoed in her head, _Miss Cinder could make me one of those beautiful dresses and we could pretend to be one of those rich ladies._ She clutched the dress close to her chest, tears rolled down her cheek. _Ana. We're going to the ball, Ana._

 _Yes, yes Ana. Can't let that girl go can you?_

Cinder wiped her tears and straightened up. The Grimm was talking again.

 _Sigh... Why are you doing this? Why can't you just be normal? Your kind, they're not supposed to talk-_

 _Too many questions scarface. But wait is_ that _how you talk to me after you almost got us both killed?_

Cinder wanted to rip her own arm off so badly for its insolence, but deep down she knew it was right.

 _I'm sorry._

 _What? Ahahaha. I didn't quite hear that right. You're... Sorry?_

 _YES. I SAID. I'M SORRY!_

 _I'm going to enjoy this moment... Well I suppose this is the part where I magnanimously declare... I forgive you scarface. It's great to have you back. I really don't know what I'll do without you._

 _Sigh... You wouldn't be alive without me. I don't suppose you could give me control of my arm back?_

 _You know, you've never tried asking nicely. Because if you did it would spare you all those horrifying memories you were pumping me full of. Revolting, really. I can't physically throw up, but you get the point._

Cinder flexed her Grimm fingers inquisitively, it was true; she had complete control. Had Salem been wrong this whole time? If so, what else has she been wrong about?

 _And yes to answer your question. I have a few theories that may satisfy this predicament of a talking Grimm. Theory One - Do you remember what you did to Raven Branwen back at the Vault?_

 _Well I certainly remember what she did to me-_

 _Just answer the question, dimwit._

Cinder frowned.

 _I... Strangled her... And stole a bit of the Spring Maiden's power through you._

 _Good. Now, what was the Spring Maiden supposed to defend?_

 _The Relic of Knowledge...?_

 _Bingo. Knowledge. If even that little of the Spring Maiden's connection to the Relic of Knowledge could allow even a Grimm to develop a consciousness, and if I may say so myself become cleverer than a human, imagine what Salem could do with the Relic itself._

 _Imagine what she could do with all of them. What's with Theory Two?_

 _Theory Two is much simpler. Your tiny brain is going to love this - you're CRAZY. That's it. AHAHAHAHAHA_

Cinder laughed miserably at the thought. A silly smile spread across her face, a smile she had not worn since her dinner with Ana and her family.

A knock on the door and Tremaine poked her head into the room brandishing a wooden box filled with an assortment of metal. Old rusty nails, bottle caps, metal stakes, spoons, forks, knives and even more nails.

"Am I intruding dear?" asked the old widow. "You asked me for all the metal in our house. Took me a day to gather it all for you..."

"T-Thank you so much," said Cinder as she tried to get up from the bed, knocking over the nightstand clumsily once again. "Wait, I've been asleep for... A day?"

"Yes dear," replied Tremaine. "You were sound asleep, it didn't seem right to wake you."

"The ball..." muttered Cinder. "It's tonight- "

"Don't be ridiculous dear, you're not going to the ball," frowned Tremaine as she sat herself down beside Cinder. "I know what you're after. Jansen Argyros. He killed Ana didn't he?"

Cinder nodded in silence. She took off her blood sodden dress and Tremaine gasped in shock as she stared at the horrifying state of Cinder's body. Her perfect white complexion was marred by countless scars, as if it had been lashed over and over by a whip or some other sick contraption, her pretty face dashed by the nasty scar across her face, but most jarring of all was the ugly black Grimm arm crudely grafted onto her left shoulder where she was missing an arm. She still retained her immaculate shapely figure but her body that would have once captured the hearts of men now looked tortured and broken beyond repair.

"My child," said Tremaine her voice full of sorrow. "It's time to let go of your vengeance."

"Vengeance," frowned Cinder as she slipped into her sparkling form-fitting black dress. "I've lost an eye, an arm and now even my power as the Fall Maiden. Vengeance is all that I have left in my life. Are you going to take that away from me?"

"Cinder dear," pleaded the widow, at her neck the golden locket shimmered. "You _are_ the Fall Maiden, you've never truly lost it- "

"Oh yeah?" fumed Cinder, as she repeatedly snapped her fingers in impotent rage but no fire would emerge. "What the hell do you know about the Maidens?"

"Look I can't give it back to you, but I _can_ help you to regain it-"

"Let me guess. 'Let go of your revenge'," Cinder buried her head into her gloved hands and sighed. "Is that what this is about?"

" _And the_ _eldest sister looked up at all that surrounded them,_ " recited Tremaine.

" _And Fall said 'But sir, do you not see? You have so much',_ " finished Cinder. She too knew _The Story of the Seasons_ all too well, she had memorized it from cover to cover as a little girl.

" _We do what we can for everyone, because we are able._ " nodded Tremaine enthusiastically at Cinder, holding her hands tightly, even her Grimm arm. "Let go of your hate, let go of your vengeance, Cinder. Heed the words of Fall, it's the only way you will become the Fall Maiden again. This is what Ana would have wanted. Do _you_ not see? You already have so much- "

"No," frowned Cinder, she pried her hands away from Tremaine's just as she did with Ana. She removed the ruby rose shard from her hair and held it close to her chest.

"Ana gave that to you didn't she?"

"Ana... _She_ was supposed to become the Fall Maiden." sighed Cinder. "Avenging her. That's the least I can do to honor her memory."

She emptied the contents of the box onto the wooden floor and drew a spellcircle around the heap of scrap metal with powdered Dust. Concentrating her Aura, she ignited the Dust particles while tracing the shape of a sword firmly in her mind. Dual wielding was her specialty, but this time she only had enough material for a single blade. A blinding flash of light as all seven colors of Dust illuminated the room, the heap of metal twisted and melted away as Dust was infused into it, finally taking the shape of a glowing silver sword, Cinder's trusty old curved metallic sword she frequented before she obtained the power of the Fall Maiden.

 _Call it a superstition, but all the best swords have names. What are you going to call this one?_

 _Heh... I expected the holder of Knowledge to be more skeptical about superstitions._

Cinder had never needed to name her swords. They were merely tools she used to achieve her end. But this time something was different, perhaps a little superstition could help, and she knew just the name for it.

 _Silver's Cry. I want to hear him scream as I twist the blade into his heart and snuff out his worthless life-_

 _You're one violent bitch you know that?_

 _Tell me something I don't already know._

Cinder snapped her fingers and the black dress shimmered with bright amber flames, enveloping her body. When the flames were gone, Cinder was dressed in a black skin-tight stealth suit with a plunging neck line that showed her cleavage, she wore wedge-heeled boots and had pouches of Dust strapped to the sides of her thighs with more shards of Dust woven into the fabric itself and on her back strung her crescent silver blade, Silver's Cry.

"Cinder dear... Don't do this. You can still turn back now," pleaded Tremaine once again. "Even if you succeed in killing Jansen, how do you intend to get out of that castle alive? It's the single most fortified place in Mantle-3 AND you no longer have the power of the Fall Maiden... It's suicid-"

Cinder shot her a deathly stare and she flinched.

"There is no plan to make it out alive," replied Cinder, averting her gaze as she stared blankly at the wooden floor instead. "Either way, this ends tonight."

* * *

Author's notes:

Alright lots of set up to get out of the way once again before the Cinderella goes to the Ball arc. Sorry if this was a really dialogue heavy chapter, I promise it will pay off in the chapters to come (For those of you who are wondering, yes the name of this chapter is taken from a Yu-Gi-Oh card lulz). Will be updating the character list as they appear in this fanfic. Keep your eyes peeled for some returning faces next chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed this so far. Cheers!


	5. Chapter 5 - Broken Dreams, False Heroes

**Chapter Five – Broken Dreams and False Heroes**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

Fire. Flames licked and spat at the charred buildings as Mantle-2 was ablaze, even the starless sky glowed crimson as the city burned. The transport detail choked and sputtered as they pulled a convoy of wooden wagons away from the burning city and toward the mountains. Even though it was nearly obscured in thick black smog, they could make out the silhouette and tiny sparkling lights of Haven Academy atop the twin peaks.

A terrifying roar followed by a tremendous gust of wind as the dragon sailed through the sky. It was death itself on wings, the Grimm was nigh on invisible in the darkness of the night except for its bone white protrusions and its glowing amber belly that hid the furnaces of dragon fire.

"Jansen!" yelled someone in the crowd. "My lord, we're too slow we're not going to make it."

"I'm going to use the Scorpion. Its our best bet against that monster," decided Jansen Arc. "Try to shave off as much weight as possible. From here on the only thing that matters is that the Relic makes it safely to Haven Academy."

They both looked at the leading wagon in the convoy. Though it was concealed inside its wooden crate, the gold lamp that was the Relic of Knowledge shone bright, beams of pure gold pierced through the gaps of its wooden container.

"It's a whole day up from here, possibly two with the wagons. How much time do you think you can- "

"How much time I can buy? Not enough." smirked Jansen, his silver eyes gleaming with confidence. "But if I _kill_ that thing. That's going to get you your two days."

"How the hell are yo-"

"By doing something extremely stupid. But that's what heroes are aren't they?" replied Jansen as he deployed the Scorpion.

"Well then my Lord, I wish you the best of luc-"

"You can keep your luck. If this goes through, it won't be luck," said the Silver Eyed Warrior. He loaded a massive harpoon into the ballista and spun the charging handle. "It's destiny."

Jansen lined up the cross hairs on his airborne target, its erratic flight path made predicting the shot next to impossible. The Grimm dragon sensing the position of the Relic, altered its course and headed toward the mountains, towards the Scorpion. Jansen released the catch and the harpoon left the Scorpion with an immense surge of energy, it soared through the air and anchored itself firmly into the dragon's side just below its left wing. The dragon's thick scales prevented complete penetration, but the harpoon did its job, it paralyzed the dragon's wing screeching in rage as it fell out of the sky, flailing and clawing at the air in vain. The ground quaked as though an earthquake had struck Mantle-2 as the great beast crashed mere yards away from Jansen Arc.

The Silver Eyed Warrior drew his sword and threw its scabbard into the dirt as he approached the fallen dragon. It was a simple arming sword forged from spring steel, but what was remarkable about the warrior was his glowing silver eyes, brimming with light. The Grimm dragon reared up on its hind legs in outrage, burning embers lit its belly, it opened its great maw and-

Reality warped and twisted as it dissolved. The burning village vanished and in its place, a circular wooden study with its shelves crammed with books swam into view.

"And... that's the end of the story," declared Jonathan Arc, panting from the prolonged usage of his Semblance.

"You _always_ do that," fumed young Jansen Arc, stomping his feet on the carpeted floor. "Why do you never- "

"Because it's not important," replied Jonathan, his silver-gray eyes filled with disappointment. No matter how he tried to hide it, Jansen could tell his father had the eyes of a former dreamer.

"It's the story of _my_ namesake! How is that not important- "

"The world is changing Jansen," his father interrupted. "Remnant no longer needs Silver Eyed Warriors to lead to us."

"But- " protested the boy.

"What Remnant _needs_ ," decided Jonathan as he ruffled Jansen's bright blond hair. "Is for you to return to your study."

" _But!_ " Jansen tried to protest again, glaring at his enormous heap of books and chessboard.

"No buts!"

* * *

"We have good news Jansen," smiled Jacques Schnee. "The SDC's mining crew excavated the remains of the Grimm dragon on a recent mining expedition here in Mantle-3. The legend is true. Your ancestor slayed the dragon. It would also follow that the prophecy is too. _You_ are the Chosen One come again."

"Yeah? Except he didn't do it the first time. He just turned the thing into stone," grumbled Jansen Arc. "I'm not trained to take on any Grimm. Let alone a dragon."

"It's in your blood, Jansen. Your ancestors have been-"

"I know what they have been. They were a proud line of warriors and lords since before the Great War," smirked Jansen. "But now we're just another family with a lot of money but we're bleeding out in our magical capabilities."

"Well it's unfortunate the Arcs have been losing their talent as Hunters," said Jacques Schnee, twirling his massive snow white mustache. "But fortunately for you that's something _I_ can fix."

Jansen's silver eyes lit up as he heard the unmistakable echo of weapons clashing in Schnee Manor, he darted to the courtyard as quickly as his feet would take him.

Three snowy white figures were sparring in the green grassy courtyard; even winter had come early for the Schnee Manor courtyard. Two of them bore the splitting image of chess pieces, garbed entirely in uniform white armor that were polished till they shone like mirrors, they wore matching white helmets with visors that concealed their eyes entirely yet their movements were so clean and precise Jansen could only conclude that they could see through their visors. He was however enraptured by the third figure.

She was the most beautiful girl Jansen had laid eyes on. The girl's long snow white hair was tied back into a ponytail, she wore a long white coat over her dark blue undershirt that complemented her white skirt and gray boots. Her fencing stance was perfect, parrying and returning every blow the two white knights threw at her with elegance and grace, even her movements were light and nimble, transitioning between attack and defense seamlessly. She turned her head to meet Jansen's gaze, her light-blue eyes locked onto Jansen's silver ones and that split second their eyes made contact cost Winter Schnee her concentration. One knight landed a low sweep, knocking her off her feet while the other struck from above, shattering the defensive white glyphs she conjured instinctively, knocking her straight to the ground on her back, both knights leapt forward and pressed their blunted training swords into her throat marking the end of the duel.

"Good, good! Laevro. Dextro. That's enough for now," scoffed Jacques waving at his two white knights. "Winter, if that's all you're capable of, I'm going to reconsider your second year at Atlas Academy- "

"I'm sorry Father," said Winter Schnee coldly. She shot an icy glare at Jansen. "It won't happen again- "

"Don't make promises you can't keep," her father cut in with an equally cold voice.

"I was only momentarily distract-" Winter tried for a rebuttal but was interrupted once again.

"Jansen here will be training with you here at our Manor in Mistral every day till your term at Atlas resumes."

"Wait what? A complete newbie?" protested Winter. "Even _Weiss_ would make a better partner-"

"Every. Day. Deal with it," decided Jacques and then he turned his back on his eldest child.

"But-"

"No buts!"

Jansen sniggered. He found their conversation eerily familiar but immediately returned to drinking in the sight of Winter Schnee, barely even noticing that his gaping mouth was wide open.

"You'll find that Jansen here is no slouch either," said Jacques, eyeing Jansen suspiciously with his white eyebrows raised. "He comes from a long line of Silver Eyed Warriors, descended from the legendary Jansen Arc himself no less. Am I right?"

Winter frowned and shot Jansen a disapproving stare, hinting that her father was talking to him. Jansen who was still staring dreamily at Winter was rudely awakened, shaking his head in embarrassment and slapping his own cheeks.

"Y-Yes, yes sir, of course!"

* * *

Sparks flew as Jansen locked blades with Laevro the white knight. She twisted the hilt of her white sword and effortlessly disarmed her opponent. Jansen's arming sword was pried from his fingers and he grunted in pain as he grasped his wrist. Laevro wasted no time, she stepped forward, attempting to bury the pommel of her training sword into his ribs but was met instead by Winter's saber. Caught by surprise, Laevro retreated, preparing to strike again.

"Geez, thanks," muttered Jansen still panting. "That would have broken my ribs for the- "

"Yes, the hundredth time. Trust me, I've counted." sighed Winter, burying her face into her palm. She engaged a catch on her saber and a second smaller sword slid out from its depths. She tossed it to Jansen and he caught it clumsily.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Handsome."

"W-What?" _Did she just call me...?_

"You heard me. If you go down, I don't think I'll last the final five minutes against those two." said Winter, eyeing the massive white clock overlooking the courtyard.

It was the final test of their training and also Jacques' ultimatum to deny his daughter her return to Atlas Academy. Winter knew full well her father never made deals that ended in unfavorable outcomes for him, "The Art of the Deal" he had affectionately called it. Today's deal - a two-on-two match against Laevero and Dextro, the pair had to last either ten whole minutes in or till either pair had their Aura completely depleted. Winter would only be allowed to resume her education at Atlas Academy if they were victorious; a comfortable desk job as a receptionist awaited Winter at the Schnee Dust Company if they lost.

"D-Don't get me wrong, I'm only doing this for myself alright?" Winter's pale white skin flushed angrily when she spoke to Jansen. "Father is going to withdraw me from Atlas Academy if we fail today. Now, b-backs together!"

They propped their backs up against other, defending each other's blind sides as the two knights circled them slowly like deathly white vultures.

"Well then lets get you your five minutes," said Jansen Arc. In his head rang the words of his namesake and something awoke deep inside of him.

The twin knights lunged forward together in perfect synchronization. Incandescent sparks erupted as Jansen locked blades once again with Laevro, but this time an unearthly ring sounded as he shattered the white knight's Aura just by crossing blades. She staggered back in disbelief but could not retaliate as she found herself suddenly eliminated from the duel. Both Winter and Jansen turned on Dextro, taking turns as they rained quick successive hits on the knight which she caught and parried with ease. Golden sparks erupted once again as Jansen locked blades but found himself immediately disarmed. Winter's second blade spun high overhead in an arc, planting itself firmly into the grass. Dextro brought her blade mercilessly down on Jansen, he instinctively raised his hands to defend himself and he caught the blade with his bare hands. Blood splattered across his handsome face as the blade severed flesh and dug into his bones, firmly lodging Dextro's polished white sword in place. Golden Aura pulsated through Dextro as her Aura started to waste away until it flickered and died. Winter yelled in an aggressive feral voice as she landed a single blow on the back of the knight's head in the space between her helmet and body armor with her pommel of her saber and the white knight was knocked out cold. The duel was over, Winter was going back to Atlas Academy.

Winter flung her saber aside in excitement as she wrapped her hands around Jansen and buried his face into her chest. _Gosh this feels too good. Am I in heaven now?_ She then planted a kiss firmly on his head and it was too much for him. A stream of blood erupted from his nostrils, his heart pounded so hard it would burst from his chest. His vision faded and with it, his consciousness from the severe loss of blood.

* * *

"Jansen... Y-You know you really don't have to do this." muttered Winter Schnee blushing furiously.

"Oh, do you mean me holding your hand," Jansen raised an eyebrow. His fingers were interlaced between Winter's white slender fingers that were quivering in excitement. "Or do you mean me seeing my girlfriend safely to Atlas Academy?"

"Both," replied Winter, her light-blue eyes would constantly avert Jansen's gaze whenever they crossed paths with his silver ones.

"Well, the Chosen One has his duties to fulfill doesn't he?"

"Chosen One?"

"Chosen by you of course." Jansen laughed at his own joke.

"Hmmmph! You flatter yourself." said Winter, turning her head away, whipping Jansen's face with her long white ponytail but she held him tighter between her fingers.

"Ahhhh Winter Schnee, Ice Queen of Atlas Academy, finally thaws her ice cold heart. Did spring come early this year?" teased Jansen, tearing up in laughter.

"R-R-Remember your place! You don't go to any of the Academies. You're just an uneducated-" said Winter in frustration as she tried to poke Jansen on the side of his ribs.

"Youngest Chess Grandmaster in Remnant." countered Jansen, dodging Winter's prodding fingers but quickly realized he could never go far as long as she grasped him firmly by the hand.

"Hopelessly unskilled in combat-" continued Winter, frowning as she poked and prodded at him, but her were lips curled into an affectionate smile.

"Silver Eyed Warrior." Jansen shrugged his shoulders.

"Never going to amount to anythi-"

Winter's eyes widened in disbelief, she felt a massive tug and she was helplessly pulled towards Jansen. He wrapped his arms around her waist and he planted his lips firmly on hers. Her once ice cold heart melted as she shut her eyes and slid her trembling arms up and around Jansen's neck. Atlesian students around them both male _and_ female shook with unbridled rage and envy as they were forced to watch the Ice Queen of Atlas Academy publicly display her affection at the Academy's front gates on her first day of the semester.

* * *

Jansen opened his silver eyes. The back of his head throbbed in pain where the boulder had struck him. _Those dreams again._

The cavern quaked and rumbled. Above his head Dust stalactites shook and rattled, threatening to dislodge themselves and cause yet another devastating chain of explosions. The Grimm dragon was stirring again, this time worse than ever before. Even its heartbeat shook the cavern; thick viscous black fluid oozed from its wound under its left wing with each massive thump. Slabs of cold gray stone crumbled from its hide, revealing thick black scales under a solid layer of rock. Its gray blank eyes now glowed an ominous crimson as the dragon began to flail and thrash its long spiky tail, bright amber sparks blew from its frozen maw. Troopers were fervently emptying their magazines on the dragon to little avail.

Jansen cut his hand as he drew his iridescent silver sword Austenaster, buried in the depths of the shattered glass weapons. He dug deep into his darkest memories, approaching the dragon just like his ancestor did and a dazzling beam of silver light burst from his eyes enveloping the Grimm dragon. It let out a whimper and its crimson eyes reverted to stone cold state, its thrashing tail became sluggish and eventually became still. The dragon was once again petrified, but still a steady stream of black blood oozed from its wound and the cavern continued to echo with the thumping of its heartbeat.

"Captain!" barked Jansen.

"Y-Yes my lord," the commander knelt before his lord again.

"Why did you open fire on that thing?" demanded Jansen, circling his commander while admiring the iridescent shimmer of Austenaster. "Live ammunition no less."

"My lord, we had no choice. You were out-"

"NOBODY kills that thing but me," lashed out the Lord of Mantle-3. " _Nobody. I_ decide when it lives and when it dies. I'd thought I made that clear before?"

"I-I apologize, my lo-"

"Apology accepted."

A flash of crimson and the Dust encrusted boulders were dyed red. Jansen drove his sword from tip to hilt through the beating heart of his commander. Austenaster, the sword sharp enough to rend space and time itself slid easily through fortified armor as though it were water, puncturing his victim's heart and lungs. A fountain of blood erupted as he withdrew the blade and the commander crumpled to the ground bubbling as he drowned in a pool of his own fresh blood.

Jansen ripped the commander's helmet bearing his rank insignia from his lifeless head and tossed it to the remnants of his troopers. A short, diminutive trooper caught the helmet.

"Congratulations soldier," smiled Jansen. "You're now captain of this worthless squad."

The new commander stiffened up to salute Jansen.

"She doesn't talk," boomed the voice of a tall burly soldier. "And I'm not following a _commander_ who can't give commands. Let me tak-"

The soldier never finished his sentence, at least the new commander did not allow him to. She coolly turned her rifle on him, the assault rifle emitted a whirring noise as it charged up with electricity and upon pulling the trigger she fired a single non-lethal stunning round. Her target fell to the ground convulsing uncontrollably and foaming at the mouth.

"Impressive," commended Jansen, his silver eyes gleaming. _Finally a soldier that understands the use of non-lethal rounds._ "It appears competence doesn't come with how loud you are."

The commander removed her helmet and whipped free her long brightly colored hair. Her hair was split evenly down the middle - one half was bubblegum pink with streaks of pale white locks and the other was a glossy chocolate brown. Her heterochromic irises seemed to swirl unnaturally between pink, brown and white, sometimes even all three at once as if they were a triple scoop ice-cream. She wore a grin on her face that exuded her mischievous personality but also her confidence and loyalty.

"You got a name soldier?"

The commander rolled her eyes then tapped her name tag on her left breast furiously. Emblazoned in bright cursive gold lettering was her name - _Neopolitan_.

"Well then, Neopolitan... Neo. As you can see your predecessor hasn't left you any large shoes to fill," said Jansen, squatting down to examine the glass heels that Cinder had abandoned. "We didn't find a body so she's not dead. Find out who she is. I want to know _everything_. Don't let me down, Neo."

Neo pulled out a stack of drawing block and marker pen from her backpack and started to scribble frantically - **[Yes, my lord.]**

"Put together a security detail, I expect maximum surveillance at the ball," he tossed to Neo Cinder's glass slipper. "She's going to come to us."

* * *

Author's notes:

Welp that's a wrap on this chapter. I actually found the romance between Jansen and Winter really cute, I actually smiled to myself quite a few times as I was writing it lulz. Yes, your eyes aren't playing tricks, there are no square brackets around like [OC, Winter S.]. We know Jansen eventually becomes a psychopathic murderer and since this takes place before canon, we also know that Winter reverts back to being the stoic, ice cold soldier as we meet her in Volume 3. What a powerful tool dramatic irony is.

The stakes have been raised significantly for our poor protagonist Cinder moving forward into the ball arc, her already slim chances look even more grim (no pun intended) with Neo joining the fray. I originally intended for this chapter to be chapter four, but I didn't want to lose the emotional momentum Cinder felt after losing Ana back in chapter three that would make her descend into self-destructive madness more convincing. Also, I planned to drop the Neo reveal one chapter later at the ball itself, but heck it made way more of an impact as I was rewriting this chapter and the rest is history. Yes, a commander that doesn't talk does sound like it spells out quite a few red flags for Jansen's security in the future or will Neo prove to be a really capable leader?

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and look forward to the next installment. Cheers!


	6. Chapter 6 - The Ball

**Chapter Six – The Ball**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

"B... R... E... A... C... B-Breach!"

"Ma'am, target is moving down Corridor 6-"

"Camera 347 is down- "

"Camera 348- "

"361- "

"He's moving. Fast."

Neo sighed and slapped her face with her palm, her triple colored hair rapidly flushing between pink, brown and white. She shoved the surveillance trooper aside and pulled up Camera 347 for its last frame before it was destroyed. She squinted her eyes at the poor resolution but she could make out the blurred figure. Dressed in a black stealth suit armed with a single crescent silver blade, Neo knew at once who she was dealing with.

"Orders Ma'am! Should we alert Lord Jansen- "

The command center echoed with the furious scribbling of pen on paper, and all the troopers fell silent. Neo held up her drawing block - **[Not HE you incompetent idiots, SHE. You useless bums have been bested by a crippled girl. Lord Jansen has other things to deal with tonight, I'll deal with her. Force her down toward Corridor 9 - it's a choke point, I'll intercept her there.]**

Neo fitted her helmet over her head. Her helmet heavily contrasted that of her subordinates, instead of its usual dull tactical gray, Neo's was stylishly painted with her favorite bubblegum pink. The helmet was waxed and polished till it shone bright from its mirror finish. She jettisoned her rifle, choosing to arm herself with her lacy pink umbrella instead. With a push of a button, the tip of her umbrella spewed a gleaming silver blade concealed within its central tubing. She inspected it with a satisfied grin then lowered the visor of the helmet to conceal her heterochromic eyes. _This is for you, Roman._

* * *

From her perch atop the porcelain-tiled roofs, Cinder watched the steady stream of guests gathered at the gatehouse of the White Castle like a hawk. She then turned her eye to the high outer walls to count the troopers patrolling the castle as they passed through the gaps of its crenelations.

 _Six guards. It's going to be an easy brute force entry. How's that sound?_

 _Brute force? Have you gone mad Scarface? Just going up those walls will cost us almost all our Dust supply. Why can't you just go in like every body else?_

 _Because clearly I'm not every body else. I'm not invited. And stop calling me that._

 _Scarface? Nah, it's grown on me, I'm sticking with it. You could give me a shitty nickname in exchange you know._

 _Remind me again why am I even entertaining you? Let's see you're just an arm so... Armiel._

 _AHAHAHA what? How bad are you at names? You should have chosen to be the Winter Maiden, maybe the Relic of Creation could create some creativity for you._

 _SHUT UP!_

Cinder narrowed her eye, watching the legions of Remnant's richest and most influential people make their way into the White Castle.

 _Armiel, what's the plan for getting past the front gate?_

 _I need you to get closer, I'll figure something out when we're down there. I've got the power over Knowledge after all._

 _Yeah. Just a real small portion of it._

 _Still cleverer than you, Scarface._

Cinder sighed. She leapt from her perch, snapping her fingers as she somersaulted mid-air. A brilliant vermilion flame engulfed her body and when she landed gracefully on the ground, she was dressed in her long flowing black dress that shimmered with the light of its woven Dust particles. The dress exposed Cinder's back, her back that now no longer showed her iconic emblem between her smooth shoulder blades. Vanity still burned deep within the fallen Maiden, she designed her dress so that it was translucent in areas where Cinder had not been scarred, she was desperate to show off what precious little that remained of her beautiful body. She chose to drape her now shoulder-length hair over her left face to hide her ugly scars instead of a mask. Long sleeves and black gloves covered both her arms, but while her right was snug and form-fitting, her left hung comparatively loose to break the shape of her ugly gnarled Grimm arm. To top off her look she wore thin black stockings with a matching pair of obsidian black heels that rang pleasantly in her ears with every step she took.

 _You know Scarface, you're actually really hot. Even as a Grimm, I must say I'm quite turned on._

 _Don't patronize me, you sad excuse of a Grimm. Flattery isn't going to talk me out of doing this-_

 _Is it wrong for me to offer my honest compliments?_

 _It's not. Sigh... you should have seen me back in the day before all this._

 _Oh yes, I would have loved to do_ nasty _things to you._

Cinder strutted confidently down to the gatehouse. Heads turned, eyeballs followed her as she brushed past the guests and lined up behind a woman with snowy white hair.

 _Well, let's talk business then Scarface. That maneuver you pulled, that dress-change thing?_

Cinder folded her arms and tapped her feet impatiently, her foul fiery temper started to build up as she queued for her turn to enter the White Castle.

 _What about it?_

 _Yeah it just cost us 5% of our Dust supplies. Try not to do that again unless we have to._

 _So nice of you to point that out._

"That is ridiculous! What do you mean _I'm_ not on the list?" fumed the woman in front of Cinder, she too had her arms folded in frustration. She had long snow white hair tied into a tight bun, her fringe cascaded down the by side of her face. She wore a long white coat over her dark blue vest with her long white pants tucked into her silver boots. _Military,_ judged Cinder eyeing the saber that hung from her belt _, Atlesian at that._

"James. Ironwood." repeated the white-haired girl, rolling her light-blue eyes at the guard blocking her entry.

"Yes Ma'am. His name is on the list, but yours isn't- "

"Look sweetheart, I don't have time for this," lashed out Winter Schnee impatiently. "James Ironwood finds himself indispensable tonight."

"Yes Ma'am. I'm still going to nee- "

"So _I_ , Winter _Schnee,_ Ironwood's most trusted assistant _and_ the eldest daughter of the man who actually owns this goddamned castle will be taking his place tonight. You can either stand aside now, or you can risk your precious Lord Jansen's wrath if he needs to come pick me up personally."

Cinder's turned her gaze, squinting her good eye to scrutinize the white marble walls of the castle. Winter was right - every single slab of stone had the words _Schnee Dust Company_ carved into its corner.

The guard gasped at the mention of Jansen Arygyros' name and stepped aside visibly traumatized, allowing Winter Schnee to pass into the inner bailey and courtyard unhindered.

"Alright next," sighed the guard, returning to his clipboard.

"What's your name Ma'am?" he asked Cinder listlessly.

 _Crap. Armiel what was the solution again? Now's the time._

 _Sigh. I'd thought the solution was pretty obvious after watching what that woman di-_

 _What? No. No it isn't-_

 _Are you serious Scarface? Just give them anything, then intimidate that gutless gatehouse guard with his LORD Jansen's nam-_

 _That's it. I'm calling it. You're useless._

"Jessica," lied Cinder. She immediately regretted her decision. She buried her face into her right palm, flushing red at how stupid she must have sounded, but her left hand crept slowly towards the handle of her sword Silver's Cry, preparing herself for a brute force entry.

"O-Of of course you are!" exclaimed the soldier in delight. "I am soooo sorry! I get it now - you're so into your character I couldn't recognize you! For the record, I'm a HUGE fan."

Cinder forced an uneasy shaky smile and slid past the guard laughing to herself awkwardly. She made it through somehow. She quickened her pace into the statue filled courtyard before the guard realized his stupidity and changed his mind.

 _Jessica?! Where did you get tha-_

 _Heck it just popped up in my head. Who the hell cares? It worked._

 _Sigh... With luck like this we might just make it ou-_

 _Don't count on it, Armiel. We're not making it out alive. We've talked about this._

The White Castle's courtyard was heavily littered with tall white marble statues of dragons, spewing fire from their jaws, rearing up on their hind legs spreading their menacingly large wingspan glaring down at the people below. Cinder strolled past the statues paying little attention to them, she had her amber eye fixed instead on the castle's keep that she knew Jansen Argyros would be in. She quickly ran her fingers across the ruby rose shard in her hair and her heart burned with her thirst to avenge Ana, an innocent girl wrongfully slain because of Cinder's lack of power, tonight she was going to make right what was wrong.

Cinder strolled past two long corridors before stepping foot into the Great Hall. Aptly named so, the hall was enormous even for a castle's standards, the Lord of Mantle-3 had a distinct taste for lavish vanity that made even Cinder smirk with approval as soon as she laid her eye on it. The Great Hall was lined with rows of towering windows, an absolute abomination from the perspective of a castle's practical defense, but was incredibly gorgeous to look at. Massive chandeliers shimmering with the best and brightest gemstones from the Dust mines hung from the high ceiling that seemed to stretch on for an eternity and at the end of the Great Hall sat Jansen's monstrously large empty white throne. Constructed entirely from Dust of all seven colors, the fusion of the Dust crystals formed an iridescent white amalgamation that was then eventually carved into a seat fit for a king - a symbol, a reminder to all the peasants that Dust was Mantle-3's most precious resource and the lord who sat on a heap full it held absolute power over them.

Cinder sat herself down by the bar and waved for the bartender.

"What can I get you tonight Ma'am?"

"Shirley Temple." replied Cinder.

The bartender handed Cinder a blood red mocktail, a mix of ginger ale with a splash of grenadine syrup then garnished with a slice of lemon and a single succulent cherry. She sipped her drink, savoring its sweet fruity flavor slowly while scanning the Great Hall for her target.

 _Non-alcoholic. Are you a lightweight Scarface?_

 _Of course not. But I'd rather not let alcohol affect my judgment tonight. We've got work to do._

 _If it were_ my _last drink, I'd make sure it was alcoholic-_

 _Do you have anything useful to say? Anything at all._

 _Haha I thought you'd never ask. I've been conducting my own survey of the castle, I've pretty much memorized the architecture we've laid eyes on so far. You can thank me later._

 _Excellent. And Jansen...?_

 _Ten o'clock. He's headed towards that woman we met at the gatehouse._

 _Winter... Schnee?_

 _Yes_ Winter. _A very interesting name I must say. Are you thinking what I'm thinking Scarface? Cinder...?_

Cinder ignored the Grimm, instead her attention was fixed on Jansen Argyros. His bright blond hair was carefully swept to the left of his face to show off his beautiful features. The Lord of Mantle-3 wore a midnight blue three-piece suit and a matching pair of dress pants with leather shoes. To Cinder's delight he was not wearing any armor, but she noticed his iridescent silver blade hanging at his belt and she cursed.

* * *

Winter Schnee felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. She wheeled around to face the one person she dreaded to meet tonight.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" Jansen bowed, extending his hand towards hers.

Winter frowned and declined politely.

"I'd expect Ironwood to be most displeased if Mantle-3 were to pull out _all_ our Dust exports to Atlas," said Jansen in a dark voice, his face soured and his handsome features now became a terrifying sight to behold. "That would make Father really happy I'd imagine? _Prices soar as Dust supply dwindles, is Remnant truly finished this time?_ What a headline that would b-"

"That's enough Jansen," interrupted Winter, she dipped her head and reluctantly took Jansen's hand. As their hands connected, an old fire kindled amidst Winter's frozen heart and the Ice Queen struggled to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes.

"How long has it been since we- "

"Four years."

"Has it only been four years? My, my... the way Ironwood dresses you these days... You look just like one of my lackeys."

Winter held back her anger. She didn't take insults to the Atlesian Military or James Ironwood lying down, but tonight it was different. The fate of Atlas' supply of Dust depended on her temperance.

"Have you spoken to your Father- "

"We haven't spoken in years. I don't plan to end that tonight."

"Most disappointing, Winter. The SDC's influence grows larger every day, and so will Father's reliance on Mantle- "

"Father..." chuckled Winter, her voice filled with disappointment. "You talk as if he was your father. Your _real_ father loved you and-and yet you..."

"Drove a sword through his back?" finished Jansen, not a single hint of remorse in his voice. "I disposed of a weak and foolish old man too cowardly to take his rightful place to rule over these wretched people. Too afraid of his own destiny. But I'm not my father. I'm stronger than Jonathan Arc could ever imagine to be."

"Jansen, those were just stories!"

"Just stories? Nonono those weren't just stories, Winter. They were my _life_."

"Stories fed to you by Jacques Schnee. Father is using you Jansen. _He_ is the true Lord of Mantle-3. The writing is on the wall Jansen, its all over your castle. Wake up!" cried Winter lashing out her anger, tears rolled down her cheeks and they stopped dancing. From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of her father Jacques Schnee staring at the couple, flanked by his elite guard Laevro and Dextro.

"You know all of this could be yours too, Winter- "

"Yeah? I never asked for any of this. But when will it be enough for _you?_ Another castle? A castle in every kingdom? You've changed, Jansen- "

"No. _Y_ _ou've_ changed, Winter." replied Jansen coldly. His emotionless silver eyes fell on Jacques Schnee, the President of the SDC beckoned him, tapping his silver wristwatch furiously.

Jansen nodded and he tore his hands away from Winter. The fire in her heart flickered and died, with it she lost all her strength, her legs buckled and she fell on her knees, but Jansen Argyros never turned back, instead he continued to follow Jacques Schnee, the two men were laughing. Winter sank deeper, tears streamed ceaselessly as she clutched her chest that hid her broken heart.

* * *

 _Armiel, he's leaving._

 _Yes yes he's leaving, big fucking deal. I bet he's got a thousand other guests to entertain-_

Cinder traced Jansen's movement. The Lord of Mantle-3 trailed after Jacques Schnee into a dark room flanked by a pair of knights in shining white armor. The door was immediately locked and guarded by six guards in gray armor.

 _No, he's leaving with the President of the SDC. Whatever business they have, they intend to discuss it far away from here. Where does that door lead to?_

 _Well, if my predictions are correct, it should lead up to the Donjon-_

 _Speak english, genius._

 _It's the highest tower of the castle, you idiot._

 _The one with the big ugly ballista?_

 _Yes that one. The Donjon is the most secure room in the castle, that door is the only way in or out, but I've got a plan around it. Take a turn around that corridor leading to the Great Hall, we'll try to get to it from the outer walls. We might need to pass some guards, but they'll be coming at us in small numbers, we shouldn't have any problems with them._

Cinder's heels clacked furiously as she scurried out of the Great Hall.

"Hold it there, Ma'am! Who goes there?" yelled a guard.

Cinder sighed. _Lightweight._ Immediately she pretended to be drunk, clutching her head and wobbling towards the guard. She threw herself into his arms and the revolting stench of sweat under his armor filled her nostrils but she resisted the urge to throw up, instead she held her breath and began to feel the guard with her fingers. Her head rang with the Armiel's fanatical laughter, clearly the Grimm was enjoying at the situation Cinder was forced into.

"M-Ma'am I'm going to need to see some kind of identificatio-"

"Siiiiirrrr..." slurred Cinder, she pressed her chest onto the guard and he stiffened. "I-I... think I've had ahahaha... one tooooo much... which waaay back toooo... the hall?"

The guard shoved Cinder away, his rifle made a whirring noise as it charged up its non-lethal round, pointing the barrel at the fallen Maiden.

"Ma'am keep your distance from me. I'm going to need to see- "

"Identification, yes I get it," interrupted Cinder, her head tilted to one side in frustration. Nobody had ever resisted her charm. Nobody. Not even women. Especially not when she offered to let them touch her perfect body. "Baby because I think you're cute, I'm going to cut you one last offer. Turn around, pretend you didn't see me and maybe I might even let you feel me... Oh and you'll get to keep your head on your shoulders."

More foot steps echoed along the corridor. Two more soldiers showed up both pointing their barrels at Cinder and she sighed.

"Ma'am we have reason to suspect you are a wanted person. I'm going to need to se- "

Cinder ignited the Dust woven into her dress with her Aura, a brilliant rainbow flash blinded the guards and she attacked. Her Grimm arm became a black blur, stretching to anatomically impossible distances, destroying the cameras on the wall just as she sprang forward with the force of the ignition, with a single slash of her sword she decapitated the guard. Vermilion flames engulfed her body and Cinder swapped out her dress for her black stealth suit - she knew needed all the mobility she could get to silence the guards as quickly as possible.

The two guards were stunned as they witnessed the horrid sight of the corpse of their headless comrade. They instinctively aimed their rifles at Cinder and pulled the trigger but it was already too late. Cinder threw a handful of Dust and a dozen shards of razor sharp glass materialized, piercing the rifles and jammed their firing pins, rendering their guns useless. Gunshots were loud and messy, they were a sure-fire way to draw attention. As such, Cinder took extra steps to ensure the guards would not be able to successfully squeeze off even a single round. A flash of crimson and Silver's Cry severed the arm of one guard, but before he could scream at the stump his missing hand, Cinder drove Silver's Cry down his gaping mouth and through the back of his skull, impaling him to the wall. Her Grimm arm reached out an unnatural length, grasping the last guard by his helmet, crushing it effortlessly with the herculean strength of a Grimm, bits of gray matter and caked blood splattered across the white interior of the corridor.

 _80% Dust left, and watch that body count Scarface. We're piling up more bodies than we can mop up already._

 _Which way to the Donjon? And no, we're not mopping up. We're on a timer now, reinforcements are coming soon._

Cinder sprinted down the corridor, conjuring shards of glass that destroyed the cameras as she passed.

 _Timer? What are you talking about? You silenced them all didn't yo-_

 _That last guy managed to get off a message._

 _What message?_

 _Sigh... All that Knowledge wasted on a Grimm. Not all language is spoken, Armiel._

Cinder smiled to herself, basking in her superiority. Finally, something she knew more than the Grimm.

 _Don't gloat you idiot. Alright, alright you win this time. Get to the point already._

 _It's Morse Code. These assholes have been communicating by clicking their walkie talkies with long and short taps._

Cinder's skidded to a halt as she turned the corner and she tightened her grip on her crescent silver blade when she saw her adversary. A diminutive soldier dressed in her well-starched white uniform and long pants with brown boots stood in Cinder's path, blocking off her access to the narrow doorway behind. The soldier's flamboyant bubblegum pink helmet obscured her face and concealed her identity, but Cinder could tell from her battle stance that this soldier was something else.

* * *

Under her helmet, Neo grinned.

A bright flash of vermilion. Cinder ignited the Dust in her stealth suit, launching herself forward instantaneously closing the distance between them both, bringing her shining silver sword down. Neo somersaulted sideways and met Cinder's blow with a high guard using her lacy pink umbrella. Cinder scowled and disengaged, clearly frustrated she didn't take Neo out with a single strike. The two traded blow for blow evenly, it was gradual but Neo could feel the vast difference in their swordsmanship, Cinder was outmatching Neo with every blow. Even without the power of the Fall Maiden, Cinder firmly retained her skill as a master swordsman, but Neo knew from her clash with Jansen in the Dust mines that fights almost never boiled down to who was the better swordsman.

Neo leapt forward, feinting her first strike and Cinder took the bait, slashing at the air and leaving her side exposed. Neo pounced at the opportunity, she pushed the catch on her umbrella and a gleaming silver blade erupted from the tip of her umbrella. She thrusted the umbrella forward like a rapier with a strike that would have pierced Cinder, fatally puncturing her vital organs but instead it ground to a halt inches away from touching her waist. Cinder's ugly grafted Grimm arm stretched out and grabbed the umbrella by its pink canvas. A maneuver that would have fractured a normal person's arm due to the anatomical limits of their joints was instead made possible by how malleable her new arm was. The Grimm wrung the umbrella from Neo's hands with its superhuman strength, forcing Neo to activate her Semblance. While Neo had her helmet on, it concealed her identity; she still held the edge of surprise, Cinder still had no idea who she was or what her Semblance did.

She conjured a mirror image of herself while the real Neo re-positioned herself behind Cinder with her bladed umbrella ready to lance the fallen Maiden from behind. The mirror illusion shattered as Cinder landed a deadly draw cut on its torso and Neo thrust her umbrella once again. Fully anticipating the backstab, Cinder parried the blow without even looking behind her back. Neo gasped silently in disbelief, even the loss of her left eye had not dulled Cinder's instincts as a swordsman in the slightest. Cinder rammed the pommel of her sword into Neo's helmet and she was knocked off her feet, crashing into the door she was guarding.

"If you know what's good for you, stay down Honey," whispered Cinder condescendingly. "Last warning."

Neo got to her feet defiantly, she threw aside her ruined bubblegum pink helmet and whipped free her triple colored hair. Cinder's amber eye widened with shock when she saw Neo. Neo grinned and held high a pre-written drawing block - **[This ends here tonight, Cinder Fall. You will pay for taking Roman Torchwick away from me.]**

The corridor echoed with Cinder's fanatical laughter.

"Me? Pay for what happened to Torchwick? What about you? _You_ let Ruby Rose get to Beacon tower. You failed your only job. You let her do THIS to me," Cinder pulled her fringe aside, revealing her horribly scarred left face and her missing eye. "I'll let that slide. But you're one of Jansen's lackeys now. YOU pulled the trigger that killed Ana. You're all going to pay for what you did to her. When I'm done with you, not a single scrap of ash will remain of your body."

Neo quickly scribbled on a fresh drawing block - **[I didn't have a choice.]**

"Bullshit," retorted Cinder, her voice shaking. " _Everybody_ makes choices."

Another ignition of Dust and Cinder shot forward, closing the distance with impunity once again. Neo focused all her Aura to project her Semblance, the narrow corridor warped and twisted and became a massive mirror maze, endless reflections surrounded the two girls mimicking their every move. Cinder screamed at the sight of her own reflections, the once mighty Fall Maiden was now reduced to the pathetic state of a frightened little girl shivering on her knees, hacking and slashing frantically at every reflection, her own as well as Neo's. Her Grimm arm thrashed around randomly, scoring long deep claw marks into the carpet and marble walls. Neo grinned, she knew she had driven Cinder deeper into insanity, she picked up her umbrella and approached Cinder slowly, her smile widening.

Neo raised her umbrella triumphantly, ready to impale Cinder this time. A flash of silver and Neo was disarmed, she gasped silently in shock. Her umbrella spun high in an arc and landed on the carpeted floor. Cinder got to her feet and gazed confidently into Neo's eyes with the edge of her silver sword pressed into Neo's throat. Cinder had put up an act and Neo fell for it.

"Cheap party tricks, _Captain_ Neo. I expected more from you," grinned Cinder, her sword gleamed iridescent from the chandelier lights that hung above them. "Reflections are supposed to produce non-superimposable images. Left becomes right, right becomes left. Leaving asymmetrical claw marks on the floor immediately exposed what was real and what wasn't. All that was left was for me was to throw my ego away, get on my knees and wait for you to come to me. It worked perfectly. It's over now, Neo."

Neo grit her teeth and somersaulted out of Cinder's reach, forced to abandon the doorway she was tasked to guard - it was her last ditch attempt to defeat the fallen Maiden. She spun and landed gracefully on the carpeted floor, straight into the waiting arms of the angry orange glyphs under her feet. Cinder had calculated and covered _all_ her options, Neo was never her match, the fight was over the moment she chose not to stay down. The glyphs vibrated and let out a terrible high-pitched whistle, Neo raised her hands to defend herself instinctively but she knew without her Aura, the explosion that ensued would surely be her end. She closed her eyes and embraced death, maybe it wouldn't be so bad, she would be with Roman again. She waited. And waited even longer. But nothing happened. Was this death? Was it that simple? Neo had not expected death to be _this_ painless.

She slowly opened her heterochromic eyes. The corridor illuminated by chandeliers came into view, its pristine white marble walls scarred by claw marks from the Grimm arm. Except Cinder was no longer in sight. Neo slammed her fist into the wall when she realized what Cinder was up to - she had been outplayed at every turn. Cinder never ignited the amber glyphs. She probably never intended to either. An explosion would have attracted attention, which in turn would have alerted her _real_ target, Lord Jansen. Neo had already willingly abandoned guarding the doorway, killing Neo was unnecessary. Neo searched her uniform for her walkie talkie but it was gone. She cursed a silent curse. Did Cinder foresee even this? The fight itself, choosing to engage in melee combat just so she could pilfer the walkie talkie from her. Neo's hair rapidly flushed between pink, brown and white in stress, she had failed to defend Lord Jansen and she knew first hand how well the Lord of Mantle-3 took failure.

* * *

Author's Notes:

This is the longest chapter, so naturally it took me a tad longer to get it up. Alot happens this chapter, but every chapter has been very fast-paced anyways. Not much for me to say that won't spoil further events. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please do leave a follow, favorite or review if you did and would like to see more. Cheers!


	7. Chapter 7 - The Black Queen

**Chapter Seven – The Black Queen**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

Cinder clicked furiously, broadcasting her message in Morse Code to all troopers using Neo's walkie talkie.

 **[All troopers are to defend the Great Hall immediately. This is not a drill.]**

She then crushed Neo's walkie talkie and tossed its sizzling remains over the crenelations of the outer walls. Cinder crouched in a shadowy corner, her black stealth suit camouflaged her perfectly as waited out the unmistakable shuffling of boots - the troopers were fumbling over each other as they hurried to make their way to the Great Hall. A grin spread across her face, she had thoroughly capitalized on the troopers' fear of their lord's wrath to her advantage.

 _There. That should clear our way down to the Donjon._

 _Very clever, Scarface. Though had I not restrained you back there, you would have blown that Neo girl sky high and all this would have been for naught. Remember the objective-_

 _Shut up. Yes I get it. Armiel how much Dust are we left with?_

 _10%. That fight against Neo depleted-_

 _Good. Now spend five more._

 _What?!_

Cinder leapt from the walls, emptying the Dust in her thigh pouch, propelling her up and through the nearest window of the Donjon, she broke her fall with a roll as she landed. She looked up at the endlessly spiraling stone stairs illuminated only by the shattered moon of Remnant and she clenched her fingers into a fist. The fallen Maiden had a look of pure determination on her face as she started to sprint up the tower.

 _Ana, I'm almost there. I'll be with you when I'm done..._

* * *

The shattered moon cast its fractured beams of light upon the balcony of the Donjon. The highest tower of the White Castle was deliberately left open-aired, it overlooked the vast expanse of Mantle-3, the marketplace, the wretched slums and alleys, but most importantly had its massive black ballista pointed strategically at the Dust mines of Mantle-3. Jansen sat himself comfortably down at a white table adorned with swirling natural motifs, to his chagrin the table's beautiful glass surface was marred by the ugly checkered chessboard that Jacques Schnee placed at its center as he sat across Jansen.

"No need to get so upset over a board game Jansen," smiled Jacques, acutely aware of Jansen's frustration with chess. "If I recall correctly, you _were_ pretty good at the game once before- "

"Still am the youngest Grandmaster in Remnant," interrupted Jansen, adjusting his midnight blue suit as he spoke. "It's hard not to be if that's all your father made you study from day to night."

"Hope you don't mind playing a game to kill the boredom as we talk business," Jacques picked up the white king, admiring the intricate silver carving on the white marble. "With some stakes involved of course."

"You're being oddly charitable today aren't you?" Jansen picked up the equally intricate black pieces made of obsidian with gold carvings and began to set the pieces on the board. "I'll be charitable too then, you can play as White. The first move is your's old man."

Jacques moved the white pawn to D4 and Jansen responded instantly with the black knight to F6. The two players sped through the first ten moves rapidly - they had memorized the positions they wanted their pieces to open the game on.

"The Schnee Dust Company needs more Dust from Mantle-3. We'll be sending in our miners starting tomorrow." began Jacques.

"We've talked about this," snapped Jansen, not bothering to hide his vexation at Jacques' proposal. "This is the fastest we can extract Dust from those mines without waking that thing. Any more and we risk this city burning to the ground and we both get nothing. Increase the mining on Schnee Quarry instead."

"You're getting rusty at the game Jansen. Your _father_ would be most disappointed," replied Jacques, his lips curled into a smile. "The truth is, the Schnee Quarry has been empty since three months ago. Experts predict a ten year downtime for Dust to grow again. We don't have ten years do we? Mantle-3 is the only mine left that endlessly produce Dust for Remnant thanks to all that pressure that dragon puts on the Dust mines here. This is your chance to be a hero. The fate of Remnant's energy supply is in your hands."

He waved at the twin knights Laevro and Dextro.

"What you need Jansen, is some _insurance_."

Together, the two knights set down a long, bulky suitcase before Jacques and Jansen. The Lord of Mantle-3 raised his eyebrow in intrigue - whatever its contents were, it was so long and heavy it required the two knights to carry. In perfect unison, they flipped the catches holding the cover in place and opened the suitcase and a burst of dazzling white light blinded Jansen momentarily. When he regained his vision, Jansen saw three iridescent white arrows, each spanning six feet in length constructed to fit perfectly into the black ballista mounted atop the Donjon. Jansen picked one up, holding it in his hands as he examined it, the weight of destiny itself seemed to emanate from the arrows themselves, its holder would shoulder the immense burden of defending Mantle-3. Its tip was sharpened to the point of molecular sharpness; the SDC's engineers had outdone themselves, this time managing to produce the most immaculate piece of weaponry known to Jansen. Launched from the ballista with the aid of Dust, Jansen knew that it would pack enough power to pierce any armor, let alone the organic black scales of the Grimm Dragon. But Jansen knew that something felt amiss.

"It was a black arrow." said Jansen simply. "A black arrow that my ancestor fired at the dragon-"

"What does the color matter? Our engineers have tested it to marvelous results on the dragon scales you sent us." said Jacques dismissively, studying the chessboard intensely.

"What are these things made of?" asked Jansen as he studied the white arrows like a child.

"Unobtainium." replied Jacques curtly without looking.

"Don't fuck with me, old man. Our lives are at stake here- " Jansen rose from his chair, glaring at the President of the SDC.

Laevro and Dextro immediately sprang to life, brandishing their weapons and placing themselves between Jacques and Jansen before his fingers could even reach the sapphire encrusted handle of Austenaster. Laevro was armed with a massive scythe and Dextro armed with a long white glaive. Both their non-corporeal blades materialized from their white Dust cores, made entirely of burning white energy that hissed and crackled wildly, but most importantly Jansen knew that blade-to-blade contact with those weapons would not allow his Aura Break to destroy their Aura, the twin knights had adapted their weaponry for the occasion.

"A rare blunder from you Jansen," smiled Jacques looking up from the chessboard, he then waved to the twin knights. "Laevro, Dextro kindly see to it that the Protector of the Realm surrenders his weapon. Clearly we won't be needing any protection here. It's your move again, Jansen. If you lose this game, I think I'll have the SDC will be bring in the Atlas Military to ensure the mining goes as planned."

Jansen cursed and handed over his sword to Laevro, who immediately tossed Austenaster over her shoulder and down the high tower. The knights promptly retracted their weapons and returned to their stoic sentry positions beside Jacques, motionless like the white chess pieces he was in control.

"Alternatively, we could call this game a dra-"

"I decline. Knight to D3," interrupted Jansen, the Grandmaster did not even look at the chessboard as he spoke. "Six hours."

"Queen to C2," replied Jacques rising from his own seat, accepting Jansen's challenge. Both players no longer looked at the board.

"Six hours," repeated Jansen. "That's how long that thing stays frozen now. We dig any further, that window will shrink even more. What then? Knight takes pawn D2."

" _King_ takes knight D2. Are you chickening out Jansen Arc-"

"Knight to G4, check. _Don't_ you call me by that name-"

"I call you whatever I want. Don't you forget who made you Lord of Mantle-3. _I_ gave you lordship over these sheep, I can take it away any time I want," Jacques' face soured as his temper grew foul. "King to G1. Perhaps a military peacekeeping mission here for all the human rights violations you have trampled over? Or a Grimm rampage with that ungodly collection of Beowolves you have down that dungeon of yours? With the communication towers down, how long do you calculate it will take Haven Academy to come pick up the scraps?"

"Knight takes pawn E3. Would you like to resign, old man? It doesn't end well for you." smirked the Grandmaster.

"I decline." spat the President, but Jansen started to move his pieces for him.

"Queen to D2, knight takes G2, king takes G2, pawn to D4, knight takes D4, bishop takes D7 check, king to F1-"

"W-Wait you're moving _my_ pieces. I'm not going to make those moves-"

"The moves are forced old man. You lose faster if you move anything else. You don't have a choice," interrupted Jansen as he continued to rapidly shift the pieces on the chessboard. "The _future_ has been written; the ink has dried. You were destined to lose the game from the first move you played. No, from the moment you decided to challenge me."

Jacques stared at the board in horror and saw how the game would end. The marble white king cornered by the obsidian black queen in checkmate. Jansen's reputation as Grandmaster clearly preceded him.

"Well then let's discuss what you're _really_ after," Jacques coughed to clear his throat.

"There is only one thing I want- "

"Winter Schnee." Jacques had anticipated his reply. The old man lost the game of chess, won the _real_ game. "Marrying into the Schnee Family for political gain. The oldest trick in the book. Jansen, I expected better of you. But then again, you wouldn't be the first man to do it."

"I only learn from the best," scoffed Jansen. "I'll be taking the arrows too of course."

"Done." the President extended his hand to shake the Grandmaster's hand.

Jacques Schnee turned around and headed back down the spiral staircase of the Donjon with a wide smile on his face, his elite guards Laevro and Dextro followed him close behind. Jansen strode back to the chessboard and picked up the obsidian black queen, the piece that dealt the decisive blow to win him the game.

"You can come out now," called out Jansen holding up the black queen high in his hands. "It's just the two of us now."

A gust of wind blew his bright blond hair and Jansen felt the cold edge of metal blade pressed into the side of his neck. He wheeled around to face the girl that threatened to sever his head from his shoulders. She was dressed from head to toe in a skintight black bodysuit with a plunging neck line down her chest. Her shoulder-length ashen black hair concealed her left face, but her right was beautiful beyond compare. Her single amber eye stared deep into his silver eyes as if it were reaching into his soul itself. The amber eye that even Jansen could tell had been dulled by the departure of the Fall Maiden's power, he smiled to himself with that knowledge.

"You made it here, finally... I find myself impressed," smiled Jansen in delight. "Cinder Fall."

* * *

"Very odd choice of last words," declared Cinder. "You're shit at dying, you know that?"

"They say that a person's not dead until we see the body. You my dear, are a stellar example of that," laughed Jansen Argyros, pushing himself closer to Cinder with his neck still pressed to the edge of the blade and Cinder recoiled, losing her composure. "How many times has this happened... The third time? Guess I can't say the same for the other girl."

Cinder growled and buried Silver's Cry deeper into Jansen's neck until a thin stream of blood started to trickle. Her sword started to tremble with rage but the Silver Eyed Warrior remained unfazed by his open wound.

"Do you even remember her name?" asked Cinder, her voice full of sorrow. Her amber eye started to tear up at the thought of Ana, the image of her radiant smile was burned into her memories. A quick death by decapitation was too good for him, she was going to kill him slowly. _T_ _here are worse fates than death._ Cinder was going to make him the victim of his own words.

"Do _you_ remember their names? All those girls you've murdered," countered Jansen wearing his terrible condescending smile even in the face of death. "Don't talk like you're one of them, you're not. Even if you'd like to be. You're a monster; a fiend. Just like I am."

"What the hell do you know about me?"

"Pretty much everything actually," Jansen continued to step forward as Silver's Cry begun to cut deeper into his neck but the Lord of Mantle-3's smile only grew wider. "You and I... We're not so different."

"Stay where you ar-" shouted Cinder, but her victim ignored her demand. A terrifying thought crossed her mind, _was_ Jansen still her victim? His silver eyes glowed brighter with every step he took towards her. She had lost control of the situation.

"Destroying you right now would be easy. All too easy. That body of yours won't be able to take another Silver Flash from me. Yet if you swing that sword with your last breath, you'll remove my head and we _both_ die. What a boring end," Jansen came to a halt an arm's length away from Cinder. "But that's what you want. This is a suicide run isn't it? You don't fear death anymore, you never did ever since the Dust mines. You've got nothing to lose. We can't have that."

Jansen broke away, heading for the chessboard and Cinder followed him, her sword kept vigilant at his neck. He picked up the obsidian black pawn and waved it in Cinder's face.

"So now I'm going to give you something to lose. A reason to fear death once again. And then I will watch as you inevitably destroy yourself in your insatiable obsession for power as you have been doing till now," Jansen placed the black pawn at the end of the chessboard. Cinder already knew what was coming before it happened; the black pawn began to vibrate vigorously, transforming into a new tall obsidian chess piece - the black queen. The queen's power in chess was unchallenged, even the kings cowered in her presence. Jansen wore his terrible smile once again. "How would you like to become a Maiden once again?"

 _Armiel, your thoughts?_

 _Wow, we live another day AND get to be a Maiden again? Its simple. I say we accep-_

 _Sigh... Why did I even consult you on this you coward._

"Specifically, become the Winter Maiden. Her fall will be your ascension, and with it your road to redemption," continued Jansen, reaching out and offering her the obsidian black queen. "It's not hard to figure what gets you ticking, Cinder Fall. You want power, you want the Relics for master Salem, and most importantly you want your revenge on those who maimed you. Does it scare you that someone else knows you better than yourself?"

Cinder lowered her sword wearily but took the chess piece from Jansen and the dazzling lights in his silver eyes faded as he started to circle Cinder slowly.

"I'll take that as a yes-"

"It's not a 'yes'. But I'm _interested_. Keep talking."

"Atlas Academy guards the Vault of the Winter Maiden, but James Ironwood is a shrewd man. He would never agree to defend the Relic of Creation unless he controlled _both_ Maiden AND Vault. You're a clever girl, I'm sure you get where this is going."

"Winter... Winter Schnee is the Winter Maiden?" cried Cinder in disbelief. But in her head the pieces were starting to click, Winter's _name_ practically screamed that she was the Winter Maiden, just like how Cinder's last name told the world that she was the Fall Maiden. It made perfect sense for someone who wielded so much power to tell the world who she was. How could she of all people have missed it?

"Tonight's ball is a rare occasion where both Vault and Maiden are separated. You won't get a better shot," Jansen stopped circling Cinder and whipped out from his midnight blue blazer a map of Mistral with detailed routes and markings highlighted. "Winter Schnee's transport detail leaves Mantle-3 for Atlas at noon tomorrow. Kill her, take her place as the Winter Maiden then proceed to Atlas Academy where you'll find not only the Relic of Creation, but a certain other Silver Eyed Warrior-"

"Ruby Rose." finished Cinder, growling in anger. Her lust for power, her fanatical thirst to kill Ruby Rose that she kept repressed for days started to surface once again.

"Exactly," smiled Jansen Argyros. "As for Raven Branwen... We know where her tribe is in Mistral. Wouldn't it be a pity if one of _those_ arrows nuked her godforsaken bandit village off the face of Remnant? Mistral won't be weeping over a few missing bandits."

 _Remember why you came here, Cinder. As much as I'd like us to live to see tomorrow... You need to do what's right by you. If you accept his request-_

 _I won't be able to avenge Ana?_

 _Exactly. But whatever you choose, I'll stand by your decision._

Cinder removed the ruby shard from her hair, staring down at the sparkling red rose in her right hand and the obsidian chess piece in her left. And as she did so, her drive to avenge Ana started to evaporate. For the first time in days, she saw her hair ornament for what it was. A rose. A _ruby rose_. The furnaces of hate were lit in her heart once again. The temptation was too great for her to resist. _Forgive me, Ana..._ She planted the ruby in her hair and grasped the obsidian tight in her Grimm hands. When Cinder looked up, she was no longer the pathetic fallen Maiden. She was Salem's black queen, the girl who wanted power, she who craved it so badly she would give _anything_ and stop at nothing till she got it.

"Join me and I promise you all of this will come to fruition," Jansen's ominous silver eyes gleamed with satisfaction, he knew he had won once again. He extended his hand to shake Cinder's and she obliged. "Forget the girl, Cinder. You barely knew her and _she_ barely knew you. You've made the _right_ choice."

With a snap of her fingers, she depleted the last of her Dust reserves and Cinder knew she crossed the point of no return, she no longer even had the Dust to avenge Ana even if she wanted to. Dull flickering vermilion flames consumed her body and she was dressed in her long form-fitting black dress and glass heels, but this time she covered her left face with a black mask.

"You look stunningly beautiful." complimented Jansen with a bow.

"A sweet tongue," curtsied Cinder in response. "Lovely."

"This way then, my lady." smiled Jansen, ushering Cinder back to the Great Hall.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Yes, when I said at the end of Chapter 1 that this fanfic would take Cinder on a natural road to redemption, I didn't say what kind of redemption or from whose point of view the redemption would be.

In case you guys are curious, the chess game played between Jansen and Jacques is an actual game played between Bobby Fischer and Robert Eugene Bryne in 1963. The endgame didn't come down to forced moves like I depicted it in this story but forced endgames do happen quite often in chess. In this story it so happened to add to the tension and leads to a payoff moment in the chapters to come so the god of ink decided it be so.

And so ends the Cinderella goes to the ball arc, and also pretty much most of her parallels to Cinderella. The next few chapters will wrap up the story as we enter Act 3 and the final arc. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the story as a whole and are looking forward to the next update. Cheers!


	8. Chapter 8 - Destiny

**Chapter Eight – Destiny**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

Cinder opened her eyes and sharp pain lanced her chest. She looked down and saw the shaft of the black arrow that had burrowed itself deep into her heart. She tried to cry out in pain, but could only manage weak gasps of air, she knew that these would be her final moments and she fought hard for every breath. At the same time, she knew it was futile, she was dying, her strength departed faster than her Aura did. Through the shattered glass window of her confinement she could only catch a final glimpse of the person who murdered her - a woman dressed in red and gold with burning amber eyes and a terrible smile on her face.

Her vision flickered. Cinder was now surrounded by fire. Her left arm was whole again, so was her eye. Wrapped around the length of her arm was a golden chain and in her left palm she grasped tight the golden compass that was attached to the end of the chain. In her right hand she held a black javelin constructed entirely from Dust. The ground quaked as the Grimm dragon lumbered menacingly towards her, its deadly crimson eyes were locked not onto her nor her weapon but the compass wrapped around her arm. She threw the javelin with all her might with her eye on the dragon's heart and her aim was true. The javelin soared through the air with enough energy to penetrate the thick armored scales that guarded its beating heart, but the dragon opened its jaws and bathed Cinder in a massive torrent of unending dragon fire. The black javelin burned and melted away before it could reach the dragon, the compass glowed red hot in her palm as she tried to deflect the fire but it was too much for her. Buckling under the pressure she fell to her knees, consumed by dragon fire as she burned to her fiery death.

The fire lifted and Cinder's eyes were brimming with tears that obscured her vision as she laying dying, rainbows sparkled in the darkness all around her. Her breath was labored, she could feel her life spilling from the thousand wounds that punctured her body, yet this moment was the happiest she had ever been in her life. She reached out with her shaking hand to touch the person that cradled her in her arms and concentrated her final thoughts on the girl that would succeed her as the Fall Maiden.

Cinder sat up wide awake, gasping for breath.

The room was dark, only the remnants of the ebbing moonlight illuminated her world. In front of her were the charred remains of the cupboard she had incinerated when she woke days before, even now she could still smell the faint tinge of singed wood. She turned her head to find that the floorboards were blackened where she had forged her sword, Silver's Cry. Before she could slap her cheeks with her Grimm arm, Armiel cried out in protest.

 _Yes yes dear, this is reality. Had you used me to slap your own face, you would have lobbed your own head off._

 _Sigh... How much time have we got?_

 _I'd say another hour. Would you like me to wake you when it's time? I've got some terrible memories prepared for that._

 _I'll pass. I don't think I can fall asleep either. There's... Something I want to do before we leave this place for good._

She put on her long, velvety, wine red dress. It was the same dress that she wore when she arrived in Mistral and it was going to be the same dress that she would leave in. Tremaine had sewn on a new sleeve to replace the one she tore when she revealed her Grimm arm back in the Vault of the Spring Maiden with a long red sleeve that hung loose to conceal Armiel under the layers of cloth.

Cinder opened the door and as she stepped into the backyard, she was greeted by the fragrant smell of grass and fresh morning dew. She knelt in front of a pile of freshly dug earth and placed her gloved right hand on the cold gray stone. _Ana, I'm so sorry._ She placed the ruby rose at the foot of Ana's gravestone and a single tear rolled from her cheek.

"You're leaving aren't you, dear?"

Cinder wheeled around to see Tremaine hobbling towards her.

"Y-Yes," sniffed Cinder, wiping the tear from her face. "All I've brought is pain... And suffering to this place. I've done enough. Leaving is- "

"Rubbish dear, you've always been a daughter to me," chuckled Tremaine, straining her back as she sat down beside Cinder, admiring the sunrise beyond the horizon. "And this place will always be home to you."

"Home..." repeated Cinder. A tinge of regret started to spread like a tumor. If only she had stopped to feel what it was like to have a family.

"That's right, dear. Home. The place that will take you in no matter what terrible deeds you have wrought, the only place that will always shelter you and forgive you."

"Terrible things... In her dying moments, Ana told me something," muttered Cinder, she now started to eye the old widow suspiciously. "She's always been aware of the horrible deeds I've done, the people I've killed. But she always saw me for who I am and not who I was."

"Ana... She's always been a wonderful girl- "

"You guys though... You guys have always known who I am... Why would you shelter a murderer?"

"Destiny is a curious thing, dear. Do you believe in destiny?" asked Tremaine.

Cinder got to her feet and started to distance herself.

"Cinder dear, you're not the first Maiden to have walked this land," the old widow slowly picked herself up. "Destiny has something greater in store for you, and you know it."

"Get... Away from me." Cinder shook her head in denial as she retreated.

"Everyone in Mantle-3 knows of the amazing legend of Jasen Arc slaying the dragon, but _her_ story... Fewer people remember," Tremaine started to advance on Cinder. "Her name was Akiha- "

"She was a Fall Maiden too, wasn't she?" interrupted Cinder, frustrated that another Fall Maiden had an ego as large as her's. "Akiha. Her name is a dead giveaway."

Tremaine nodded. "Akiha was a hot-head just like you. Being the Fall Maiden was never enough for her, she too had so much she wanted to prove to the world. But when the time came she _chose_ to stay and fight the dragon so that Jansen Arc could get the Relic of Knowledge safely to Haven Academy. To help him on his journey, she forged him an arrow, the same arrow that pierced the dragon. It was never about a chosen one, they worked _together_ to bring peace to the realm."

"Is that why you've kept me alive? Is that why you've been trying to help me to become a Maiden again? B-Because of some fairy tale?" Cinder's voice started to tremble, but Tremaine ignored her question.

"Destiny has come full circle, dear. The signs were clear as day to the people of Mantle-3 when we pulled you from the Dust mines. The very same Dust mines the dragon is in right now. The Fall Maiden has returned to us," said the old widow, she was now beside Cinder again. "The people are not stupid, dear. We know. And when the dragon rises again, it will be your turn to save this city. Your place is here, Cinder- "

Cinder laughed her terrible villainous laugh.

"Then I'm sure you're familiar with how she met her end," Cinder's face soured, her beautiful features twisted as she contorted in rage. "She _sacrificed_ herself. Ash and cinders. That is all that's left of her. Incinerated by dragon fire."

"Her memories... You've seen Akiha's memories," muttered Tremaine to herself.

As the sun started to cast its golden beams upon the backyard, three black armored vehicles pulled up beside Tremaine's old wooden house. Neo poked her head out of the window, her triple colored hair flashing brilliantly from the light of dawn and she started to beckon Cinder, tapping her wristwatch furiously.

"Akiha made her choice that day. She chose to give her life save Mantle-2. That's what the Fall Maidens have always defended isn't it? _Choice_ \- " Tremaine tried to reach for Cinder's hand but she firmly pried it away.

"Do you listen to yourself when you talk, you old crone?" retorted Cinder in disbelief. "You've been rearing me like a lamb for slaughter... S-So that I could die for you at the right moment am I reading that right?"

"Dear, you cannot be more wrong about tha-"

"I'm not a hero. I'm not sacrificing myself to save anyone. And _m_ _y_ choice is to leave this wretched place."

Tremaine sighed a deep long sigh as she watched Cinder board the armored vehicle and disappear into the sunrise. She pulled out the golden compass from inside her nightgown and stared at it tearfully.

"Aki-chan... I've failed you..."

* * *

"My Lord..."

Jansen Argyros opened his weary silver eyes. The Lord of Mantle-3 had fallen asleep in his study, buried beneath a mountain of documents from the Schnee Dust Company. His life was now an endless cycle, every waking moment was spent freezing the Grimm dragon down the Dust mines, then immediately returning to his castle to catch whatever sleep he could, only to be waken again by his aide three hours later to stop the beast from stirring. His fate had become so intertwined with the dragon's he started to question who was the Silver Eyed Warrior and who the Grimm. Who truly woke while the other slept? Every time he woke, he felt the irresistible urge to plunge Austenaster into his own heart to end this madness once and for all. _To hell with the sheeple of Mantle-3._

"I still have another hour... Get the hell out... NOW!"

"My Lord. We have a problem- " insisted his aide.

"This had better be good, Major. I'll be having your head if you waste my- " growled Jansen, trying to reach for his iridescent sword Austenaster but stumbled over himself crumpled into the carpeted floor instead.

"It's the dragon- "

"Is it awake again? Hell..."

"No my Lord, you've slept an hour past your time, but the dragon hasn't woken."

"What? No. That's impossible."

Jansen got to his feet and surveyed the cameras that oversaw the Dust mines. His aide was right, the dragon remained staunchly petrified, motionless as rock.

"That's not all my Lord. It's heart has stopped beating too."

 _The calm before the storm._ The Lord of Mantle-3 started to don his pristine pearl-white armor, he was going to personally confirm this abhorrent new situation.

Without warning the double doors to his study burst open and a single soldier covered in dust let himself in unceremoniously, soiling his lord's perfectly groomed carpeted floor with every step he took. He made his way to the oak desk and knelt on one knee.

"Bad news, my Lord." reported the soldier.

"Do any of you have anything good to say?" roared Jansen. He swung of his sword high over his head and cleaved his oak desk cleanly in half. The lack of sleep had made a monster out of the once princely lord.

"It's the dungeons, my Lord," reported the soldier, his eyes darted around nervously, keeping his gaze firmly on the floor.

"What about the damned dungeons?"

"The Beowolves, my Lord. They're gone."

* * *

 _Say, Scarface. When you do become the Winter Maiden, what are you going to call yourself then? Cinder Winter? HAHAHAHAHA I love how that rhymes._

Cinder sighed aloud as she inspected the rigging of the explosive charges. It was going to be a simple ambush mission. They would detonate the shaped charges, disabling the first and last vehicle in Winter Schnee's convoy, effectively cutting off all routes of escape. This would allow Cinder and her troops a clear and easy assault from the flank.

 _You know what else I could use besides creativity from the Relic of Creation? I could use a new eye_ and _a new_ _arm._

 _Oh no you wouldn't Scarface. Don't you want more power? I'm still useful in that department you know._

 _I'm doubting it right now. But fret not, you'll soon get the chance to prove yourself._

 _Sigh... Have you no heart, really? That girl Winter, she was so in love with Jansen too. For her life to end like this-_

 _Nobody needs to die today. Not if she hands it over peacefully._

 _I'm calling it, you're heartless. Is the irony not lost on you? Considering how not too long ago you were..._ _Frozen._

 _Come to think of it... How did that old crone say she got me out of that ice?_

 _She didn't._

Neo waved her hands to catch Cinder's attention. The sun hung high above their heads, it was noon. Neo's soldiers started to get into their positions, rifles clacking as they chambered their rounds.

"Tell them to switch to non-lethals," demanded Cinder, but Neo shot her a blank look. "Don't think, obey."

Neo pouted her cheeks and blew raspberries at Cinder's face in defiance.

"Oh come on, grow up," sighed Cinder. "If Winter dies, some random girl will become the new Winter Maiden. We need her alive."

Neo scribbled and then held up her drawing block - **[Listen to the cripple. Non-lethals, boys.]**

"Ma'am!" yelled a trooper looking through his binoculars. "The convoy isn't headed here, they're taking a longer route around!"

Neo pushed the trooper aside to look through his binoculars for herself. She slammed her hands on the rocks and started to scribble furiously - **[They're only a mile ahead of us, we can still get them if we give chase now.]**

The soldiers scrambled to their vehicles, Neo beckoned Cinder furiously but the she stood her ground armed with a longbow, the fallen Maiden had a look of resolution on her face. With a brilliant burst of vermilion flames, she fused a box full of Dust shards together to form a black arrow. Grasping the longbow in her Grimm arm, she stretched the arrow as far back as the bowstrings would allow her. The drawing motion was second nature to her, after all archery was how she disposed of Amber and what dealt the killing blow to Pyrrha.

 _Hohoho sniping them from a mile out, this I must see._

Half _a mile out I'd say. It's displacement. Are you sure you stole the power of Knowledge?_

 _Pffft. Are you any good with the bow?_

 _Pretty fucking good. A hundred for a hundred shots. How do you think I became the Fall Maiden?_

Like her swordsmanship, archery was a skill that had not been hindered by the loss of her eye. If anything it made it easier for her to grasp her targets without the need to shut an eye as she took her aim. At half a mile out, Cinder knew she needed to compensate for the wind and even the rotation of the Earth, for that she needed to know which direction her target was headed. If only she had a compass... _A compass?_

 _Let go, Cinder Fall. Let go of your hate, let go of your vengeance. Let go..._ A thousand voices rang inside her. Not just from her head, but the voices also emanated from her heart and somewhere deep inside her, deeper than just her flesh and bones.

 _Armiel get the hell out of my head!_

 _What? What are you talking about?_

"Trooper!" Cinder shook her head and yelled. "Which direction are they headed?"

"N-Northwest, Ma'am!"

Cinder drew her bow and made the necessary adjustments. But instead of tracking her target through the mountainous Mistral scenery, a thousand visions flashed before Cinder's eye in an instant. A black dragon soaring through the sky. Dazzling rainbow stalactites. A city ablaze. A girl with short black hair running through a lush green field with a sunset that stretched forever beyond the horizon of falling amber leaves. Salem arching her head back laughing. The two gemstones in her hands cast their radiant beams of light at the four golden objects at the hem of her robes - a lamp, a compass, a sword and a staff.

"Ma'am! Are you alright Ma'am?"

Cinder grit her teeth and shoved the soldier aside. With one fluid, decisive motion she drew and released the arrow. Dust infused within the arrow ignited and it tore through the sky like an iridescent black comet headed straight toward the first vehicle of the convoy. Upon impact the arrow detonated itself and a deafening explosion ensued, the convoy of vehicles became obscured by a colossal ball of fire. Shock waves uprooted nearby trees and shattered the boulders, even at half a mile away, tremors from the sheer force of the arrow's impact could be felt by Cinder. When the dust cleared, Winter Schnee's convoy was forced to come to a halt - their passageway forward was nothing but a massive black crater that impeded their advance.

 _A hundred out of a hundred and one shots. Still an impressive record, Scarface. Just not perfect._

 _A hundred and one out of a hundred and one shots, Armiel. I hit where I wanted it to._

 _No way. Not shifting the goalposts, are we?_

"Neo," commanded Cinder as she leapt into her black armored vehicle. "Establish communication with Winter Schnee. Tell her that her stay at Mantle-3 has been extended and she is to surrender command over her troops to us. That was a warning shot, should they not comply, kindly remind them that the next arrow will wipe them off the face of Remnant. We're turning back. Now."

Neo scribbled on her drawing block - **[But the mission was to kill the Winter Maiden.]**

"We don't know that she is the Winter Maiden," said Cinder. "The only evidence of that are the words of your precious Lord Jansen. I don't want to repeat myself. We're going back. If we don't, there will be no Mantle-3 for us to return to."

 _You're on to something aren't you Scarface?_

 _I've doomed the city, Armiel. I shouldn't have left._

 _If you turn back now, you're giving up the chance to become a Maiden, dear. To become the Winter Maiden-_

 _I'm giving it up so that I can reclaim the power of the Fall Maiden._

 _In doing so you'll break faith with Jansen. And with it the revenge he's promised you. Think about it, Ruby and Raven-_

 _It was in front of us the whole time, Armiel. I was... So blinded by vengeance-_

 _Slow down, Scarface. What are you talking about?_

 _The dragon is coming for it. The Relic... The Relic of Choice is back in Mantle-3._

* * *

Jansen and his two soldiers stepped out from the twisted portal and into the Dust mines. The petrified Grimm dragon towered to the ceiling, staring down at the tiny people below with its blank eyes. The reports were right, the dragon's heartbeat had ceased, the dragon stopped stirring, but something felt amiss. Jansen stepped cautiously towards the monolithic statue and placed his hand on the cold gray stone, except it was no longer cold, it was so hot that he retracted his hand involuntarily.

"M-My Lord!" cried one of the soldiers.

Jansen turned around to see the cavern lit with a million pairs of glowing red eyes. Beowolves. Baying and salivating. _This is where these bastards have burrowed from the dungeons._ They were severely outnumbered. The cavern was going to be their cold, dark graves.

Before he could gather his thoughts to activate his silver eyes, a Beowolf sprang forward to maul one of his soldiers. The soldier panicked and let loose a single bullet. The projectile ricocheted, igniting the rainbow columns of Dust. Blinding explosions spread throughout the cavern, Jansen struggled to keep his eyes open as he hacked and slashed aimlessly at the horde of Beowolves that started their assault. A thunderous roar shook the cavern, a roar far louder than even the Dust explosions. Slabs of smoking rock started to rain down from the ceiling above as the Grimm dragon started to shed its craggy exterior like an insect molting its shell.

Light brimmed from Jansen's eyes, he turned to bathe the dragon in silver, but the Grimm's spikey tail slammed into his chest, throwing the Silver Eyed Warrior across the cavern, killing the lights in his eyes. The dragon turned its ugly bone white head to face Jansen, the man who had kept the beast repressed for so long, denying the beast its freedom so that his kind could bask in the bountiful treasures that grew around it. Amber lights lit the insides of the dragon's belly, and when it opened its monstrous jaws a powerful torrent of flames shot forth, decimating every thing in its path. Soldiers screamed as they were roasted alive in their gray armor, gemstones charred and became obsidian black, even boulders of Dust melted and boiled under the merciless waves of dragon fire.

A flash of iridescent silver and Jansen leapt through the portal he conjured, narrowly avoiding the stream of dragon fire that would have surely reduced him to a pile of smoking ashes. Jansen got to his feet. The portal brought him atop the highest tower of the White Castle, armed with its big ugly ballista pointed at the Dust mines. Jansen kicked open the suitcase to reveal the three shimmering iridescent white arrows. He picked one up and felt the weight of the world in his hands. Everything in his life led to this moment, the one event that gave his life meaning - to stand atop the tower and shoot down the dragon just like his ancestor did all those years ago. He was the Chosen One, the Protector of the Realm, the Silver Eyed Warrior, the Lord of Mantle-3. This was his destiny.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Yes yes, I took a LOT of liberty with the Relics: Knowledge - Lamp, Choice - Compass, Destruction - Sword, Creation - Staff. As with alot of my stylistic decisions, these were conscious choices, though they are highly unlikely to be the Relics in canon, but I think they are fair predictions. For this story, all four items are connected by one trait, they are all items a medieval adventurer would possess and it would be a great tie-in if the Relics were the old man's personal items in _The Story of the Seasons_.

As for whether or not Winter Schnee is the Winter Maiden. I left this deliberately ambiguous so that the story could have connectivity back to canon. The way I chose for this to happen is that Cinder simply never finds out, though as the writer of this story, my answer is no she is not. Why? Because we had multiple POVs of Winter throughout this story, it was never foreshadowed that she was a Maiden, also it would take away the importance of Cinder being the Fall Maiden in this story. As for whether or not in canon she will be the Winter Maiden... I think that she already is or she will be at some point. I think that RT has written themselves into a corner with regards to this because it would be narratively unfulfilling if they suddenly conjured a new Winter Maiden character 5 volumes into the series. But on the flip side if Winter IS the Winter Maiden that would be like the most predictable thing ever and clever subversion of expectation is key to making a story interesting so...

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, feel free to drop a follow/favorite whatever suits your fancy if you did. Look forward to the next chapter. Cheers!


	9. Chapter 8-5 - The Winds of Winter

**Chapter 8.5 – Th[E] Winds of Winter**

This is an alternate end that breaks away from the events of Chapter 8 where Winter Schnee **IS** the Winter Maiden. No, this doesn't end well. Not for anyone. *Updated The Dude Strikes Back*

* * *

The black arrow streaked across the blue sky. It was an iridescent black comet, it was death itself unto any entity unfortunate enough to be in its path and it was headed straight towards the first vehicle in Winter Schnee's transport convoy. The arrow struck its target with pinpoint accuracy and the Dust composed arrow detonated itself upon impact. The convoy vanished under a devastating ball of fire, that even Cinder raised her hand to shield her eye from the light of the explosion. When the dust and smoke lifted, Cinder scowled in fury. The convoy of three vehicles was completely intact. Bright amber flames tried to consume the cars but was repelled by a massive columns of ice stalagmites ice conjured from the ground, the fire hissed weakly and retreated slowly as the earth started to freeze over.

 _Now_ THAT _is the power of a Maiden-_

 _Shut up Armiel, I was once a Maiden too._

 _Keyword:_ ONCE. _Well then Scarface, how do you intend to kill a Maiden?_

Ana's words rang in Cinder's head - _nobody can kill a Maiden_. But Winter Schnee was not be the first Maiden that she had slain, and if Cinder were to have her revenge, Winter would certainly not be the last.

 _The same way I dealt with Amber, the Fall Maiden._

Cinder snatched Neo's drawing block out of her hands and scribbled on it with her marker pen furiously then tossed it back to her. Neo stared at Cinder's message with a blank look on her face, her hair started to flush from between pink and brown as she struggled to figure out Cinder's plan.

"Its not rocket science, dear," sighed Cinder. "Just follow what it says. We're dealing with a Maiden here. You only have _one job_."

* * *

Cinder's glass heels rang as she started towards the frozen convoy. Thirty feet away, Winter Schnee stood calmly waiting for her assailant with her saber drawn and ready, her light blue eyes flared up with burning blue Aura - the light of the Winter. Even the air around Winter started to freeze, water droplets solidified and became floating snowflakes that blew like feathers in the wind, puffs of mist blew out of Cinder's mouth with every breath she exhaled as the fallen Maiden approached the Winter Maiden.

"He sent you to kill me didn't he?" asked Winter.

"Nobody needs to die today," smiled Cinder, flexing her Grimm fingers, ignoring Winter's question. "Just hand over the power quietly and I'll let you skip back home to Atlas- "

"You'll have to rip it off my dead body then," spat Winter Schnee, disgusted at the monster before her, tightening her grip on her saber.

"I've already put a hole through one of you Schnees, you guys are pushovers," scoffed Cinder. "Don't make me do it again."

"Weiss..." replied Winter in shock. "What have you done to her?"

"Weiss," repeated Cinder. "Was that her name? Well, I don't exactly keep a list of names for the people I've killed."

Winter's eyes burned brighter, she screamed as she leapt forward to strike Cinder with her saber, but the fallen Maiden caught her blow deftly with her iridescent silver blade, Silver's Cry. Blinded by rage, the Winter Maiden struck blow after blow blindly at Cinder, lashing out her unbridled fury. She lost all semblance of grace and control that the Schnee family held when they dueled, she had forgotten all her training, all she had in her mind was to slay the monster in front of her and avenge her sister by any means necessary.

Cinder disengaged, and as the fallen Maiden spun around in her retreat, she conjured a hundred shards of molten glass that flew straight towards Winter. Though Winter managed to deflected most of the shards with her saber, two made it through. One sliced her across her cheek, the other tore through her thigh and she winced in pain. Focusing on her hate, she summoned the strength of Winter and a powerful blizzard blew through the mountain range, turning everything it touched into solid ice, forcing Cinder to take cover behind her black armored vehicle.

* * *

Cinder tried to ignite shards of red fire Dust to counteract the snowstorm and warm herself, but the air was so cold that even lighting a spark was impossible, to make things worse she could feel herself starting to freeze from the outside. She had to end this soon. She knew that without the fire power of the Fall Maiden, she was hopelessly outclassed by Winter Schnee the Winter Maiden. From the corner of her eye, she saw Neo waving at her - she was in position. If Neo had understood the battle plan she drew up, taking down the Winter Maiden would be a cinch.

Cinder took a deep breath and nocked three metal arrows on her longbow then leapt out from behind her cover. With a quick draw and release, she fired all three arrows towards the Winter Maiden. Winter sliced the arrow that would have pierced her head cleanly in half and the winds of winter blew the other two arrows off their trajectories, but as the arrows planted themselves into the frozen soil, angry red glyphs started to form around them, whistling in high-pitched fury as they exploded in a column of fire, knocking the Winter Maiden off her feet.

Cinder wasted no time. Her Grimm arm shot out and wrapped itself around Winter's neck, choking the life from the girl, her light blue eyes fluttered uncontrollably as she started to lose her consciousness. Glowing blue light started to course down the length of her Grimm arm as it began to siphon the Aura of the Winter Maiden.

Winter Schnee made a weak grunt, however what followed was anything but. A massive white icicle impaled Cinder's Grimm arm from the side with such force that it severed the black tendons and her grip on Winter's neck slackened. The Winter Maiden quickly recovered, summoning a row of icicles that impaled the defenseless Grimm arm and held it in place as she brought her saber down on Cinder. With a single slash, she separated the Grimm arm from Cinder's shoulders. Cinder screamed out loud, grasping the stump of her left hand as she recoiled in pain, but what devastated her more than her dismemberment was that her only instrument to power was taken away from her; without Armiel she could no longer siphon the power of the Winter Maiden, that thought alone brought fear beyond compare.

Winter Schnee spun around and thrust her sword straight at Cinder's undefended chest but she froze mere inches short of piercing the fallen Maiden's heart. Cinder opened her eye slowly and saw the reflection that stood between her and Winter Schnee. It was the reflection of a handsome man with brilliant blond hair and silver eyes, Jansen Arc. He was wearing a genuine, loving smile that Winter had longed to see, it was the tender, silly smile that she fell so madly in love with back in the courtyard of Schnee Manor, the same smile he had on his face when they kissed for the first time in the front gates of Atlas Academy. Her fingers went limp, the snowstorm ceased its howling and her saber slipped from her fingers, falling to the frozen ground with a hollow clatter.

"Jansen..." muttered Winter tearfully, she fell to her knees as she tried to feel the reflection.

The reflection shattered into a million pieces and Winter gasped in pain. The frozen sheets of ice were dyed red as Cinder drove Silver's Cry from tip to hilt through Winter Schnee's chest. With each beat, volumes of fresh slick blood erupted from her ruined heart, splattering Cinder's scarred left face with blood, she held Cinder tightly in her embrace as she struggled to mouth her last words.

"I... l-loved you, Jansen..." gurgled Winter, as blood started to fill her lungs and throat.

Cinder sighed and replied as though she were Jansen, "I loved you too, Winter."

A hundred icicles materialized, impaling both Cinder and Winter, pinning their bodies together in an eternal embrace. Cinder's eye widened in impotent anger. Winter's final act was to take her beloved Jansen Arc down with her, by impaling their bodies to each other, they would be together forever. Cinder started to choke and gurgle from her own blood rising in her throat. Hope was not lost yet, she tried to beckon Neo, but she was nowhere in sight. This was how her journey was going to end; a pathetic existence. Losing her power as the Fall Maiden, failing to become the Spring Maiden, failing to become the Winter Maiden. Her life was a farce, her promise for power was a lie, she could not let it end just yet, but she had no choice. As her vision started to blur and fade into darkness, her mind fell on the one person who started this all, Ruby Rose.

* * *

Two brilliant bursts of Aura erupted from Cinder and Winter's corpses. One was blue and the other, amber. Together they shot towards the sky and flew in the same direction. The blue Aura of the Winter Maiden arrived at its new host - Weiss Schnee. She opened her light-blue eyes that looked so much like her sister's, flaring up with blue Aura as she was lifted off her feet. White icicles spawned all around her as the power of Winter fused with her own Aura.

"Weiss!" yelled Yang. "What the hell is happening- "

"There's another one coming," interrupted Blake, pointing at the amber Aura tearing through the woods.

The amber Aura fused with its new host - Ruby Rose. But something was different. As her silver eyes flared up with the amber Aura of the Fall Maiden, they also erupted in dancing flames and the hooded girl screamed in pain as her eyes burned themselves out.

"Ruby!" yelled all three girls as they rushed towards their leader.

"What do you want from me!" screamed Ruby as she clutched her burning eyes, her tears evaporated instantly as they touched the flames in her eyes.

A familiar voice rang in her head, it was confident and eerily tender, as though her mother was whispering to her in her ears, but Ruby recognized it, she knew it was the voice of Cinder Fall. _An eye for an eye, Ruby Rose. You took my eye. Now I will take away the silver eyes that caused me so much pain. This is the price you will pay to carry the burden of the Fall Maiden. All my life I have wanted nothing more than to kill you, but now I know... There are fates worse than death._

The flames stopped burning and Ruby Rose crumpled to her feet sobbing, waving her hands blindly in the air.

"Guys... I can't see... I-I can't see!"

 **\- BAD END -**

* * *

Author's Notes:

Those of you who played Nier would understand the chapter title subtly hinting that this end was going to be really really screwed up. But I would like to see RT take Ruby's character arc down such sharp lines in the future, like maybe blind her or let Cinder destroy one of her eyes so that her silver eyes become less dependable. Ruby Rose is the main character of the series but she's also the most boring character, she's never failed, she's never lost a single fight and she's never even been injured. Come to think of it, a character arc for Ruby where she comes into her own after being blind, becoming a badass once again after training to be a blind warrior would be really interesting, but I doubt RT goes down that route.

Conversely, Cinder has undergone more development as a character compared to any of the main cast. She's lost an arm and an eye, she's been losing fight after fight, and hopefully when she returns she's learnt her lesson, the girl's been through hell really. Which is why it made me really frustrated with how RT handled her character in V5E13, I would rather they have killed her off definitively in her fight versus Raven.

But yes, as a huge fan of Urobuchi Gen, it is my utmost pleasure to bring to you guys one of the most tragic ends this story has. Winter Schnee's love for the screwed up villain Jansen is unrequited, and dies distracted by a mere reflection of him. Cinder, our main POV character has her insane quest for revenge ending up in failure again because she slipped up and had a human moment with Winter Schnee, for that she is rewarded with being impaled to death. Ruby Rose becomes the Fall Maiden at a terrible price, she loses her sight - a fate worse than death. What makes it worse is the irony of how she became the new Fall Maiden; the guardian of Choice having no choice in taking the job.

If my procrastination doesn't become unbearable for me, I might release Chapter 9 on schedule this week. As always hope you guys enjoyed the story thus far and are looking forward to the next chapter, cheers!


	10. Chapter 9 - A Song of Spring and Autumn

**Chapter Nine – A Song of Spring and Autumn**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

A deafening roar resounded from within the Dust mines. Rocks and shards of Dust were expelled from its mountainous depths as the Grimm dragon burst free from its rocky confines, spreading wings that were as large as ship sails and as black as night. The dragon flapped its monstrous black wings and a powerful gale storm struck the terraced, wattle and daub houses of Mantle-3, tearing apart the roofs, sweeping away their fences, shattering their glass windows. And as the dragon ascended higher into the night, its massive black body blotted out the shattered moon of Remnant, casting a great oppressive shadow over Mantle-3. Nothing was eternal under the Grimm dragon's dreaded flight, not even darkness itself. Its bone white maw opened revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth, but it was what came after that devastated the Dust-mining city.

A powerful stream of fire erupted from the dragon's jaws, setting fire to row after row of buildings, their cheap tinder frames burst into tall dancing amber flames that longed for the dark sky above. Shrill screams sounded from inside the buildings as the citizens were cooked alive, trapped in the place they once called home. The dragon completed its pass over the city, leaving behind a trail of death and burning cinders and rolling black smoke. Letting out a thunderous triumphant roar, the beast dipped its wing and circled around, its crimson eyes scoured the burning city for the Relic. Its belly lit up with amber flames - the beast was determined to raze another column of the city with a breath of dragon fire and it would not rest until Mantle-3 was a sea of fire and the Relic was exposed to its master.

High above the city line of Mantle-3, Jansen lined up the cross hairs of the ballista, tracing the movements of the Grimm dragon as it rained death upon the city below. He engaged the catch and the unobtanium arrow streaked across the sky with a powerful surge of energy, tracing a brilliant tail of white light as it soared toward its target, but flew right under the dragon's wing missing his target by barely an inch. He slammed his fist on the ballista in rage and cursed. _One down, two to go._

Jansen loaded the second arrow onto the ballista, wound up the pulleys and lined the cross hairs once again. This time, the dragon was closer, hovering above the market place, flooding the streets with wave upon wave of dragon fire. This was the moment he was waiting for - a stationary target. He engaged the catch for the second time and the arrow tore through the sky like a white comet. This time his aim was true, the unobtanium arrow struck the dragon on its scaly chest but the arrow shattered into a million rainbow shards as it collided into the tough black scales that were harder than diamond, the arrow shards rained down on the buildings below and ignited upon contact with the fire below. The Grimm dragon roared in outrage and turned its dreaded crimson eyes towards the White Castle. Flapping its massive wings, it climbed higher into the sky then flew straight towards Jansen.

Jansen picked up the third and final arrow. The future has been written, the ink has dried - surely this must be the arrow to fulfill the prophecy? He reloaded the ballista and lined up the sights for his final shot and he saw it. Just under the dragon's left breast, where his second arrow found its mark, the unobtanium had shattered not only itself but a single black scale, revealing a kink in the beast's impenetrable armor, exposing its fleshy underbelly. _This is destiny. Watch over me, ancestors. Watch over this moment. Watch as I bring glory back to our family name and fulfill the prophecy. Never again will our power be questioned._ He engaged the catch for the final time and the last white arrow rushed straight towards the unguarded region of the dragon's left breast just as he intended. His aim was true once again, but a jet of angry flames blew from the dragon's maw as it laid waste to the white marble of the castle. So powerful was the searing heat of dragon fire that the final unobtanium arrow boiled and melted away before it could find its mark. Jansen could only watch in horror as with a powerful lash of its spiked tail, the dragon ravaged the Donjon, tearing through the pristine white marble as though they were merely a pile of twigs, destroying the black ballista and with it, the young lord fell from his high tower and into the darkness below.

* * *

Tremaine and Drizella were surrounded by an endless ocean of burning timber, their wooden house endlessly fed the hungry flames of the dragon. The beams creaked, struggling with the effort to hold its own weight, let alone hold up the entirety of the building's upper structures. The pair knew that if the beams fell apart, the upper floors would come crashing down upon them.

"Mum!" yelled Drizella, choking as the thick black smoke started to steal her breath away from her lungs. "We have to leave. NOW!"

"You go dear," muttered the old widow to herself, fumbling open drawer after drawer. "The compass... We need the compass-"

"We don't need a compass to find our way Mum," protested Drizella. "We'll _both_ be dead if we don't leave NOW!"

"Without the compass, this city doesn't stand a chance. We can't let the Grimm have it."

At the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of a golden glint. The compass lay by the kitchen sink and Tremaine hobbled towards it. What a fool she must have been to take her eye of it, the golden compass that was the Relic of Choice. As she reached out to grab the compass by its long golden chain, a burning wooden beam came tumbling down from above and crushed the old widow, pinning her under its immense weight.

"MUM!" screamed Drizella.

Without the beam's support the second floor came crashing down and a raging wall of fire that rose to the roof above separated mother and daughter.

"Drizella... I'm okay, I can... almost reach it," croaked Tremaine weakly, she could feel the Relic at the tip of her outstretched fingers. "I'm going to throw the compass to you- "

"Enough! Why is the compass so important?"

The front door was violently flung aside. Drizella wheeled around and froze. Her green eyes teared up as they met the gleaming crimson eyes of an Alpha Beowolf. The Grimm sniffed the air and let out a howl that was louder than even the roaring flames. She held up her arms to defend herself as the Alpha raised it bone white claws that would maul her to shreds and shut she her eyes in fear. But the blow never came. She slowly opened her eyes with abated breath to find the Alpha Beowolf sprawled in the dirt, its upper torso was severed from its feet with a single clean cut. She turned towards the burning fire and saw the only person who could have accomplished such a feat. The girl was wore a long, wine red velvety dress with intricate gold embroidery passed through the wall of fire unfazed by the searing heat. In her ashen black shoulder length hair, a brilliant red gemstone sparkled bright. Her glass heels rang aloud even amidst the fire, Cinder Fall had returned.

"You.. you came back," muttered Tremaine weakly as she felt Cinder's face.

"Y-Yes, I came back. This place... It's home isn't it?" smiled Cinder, tears welled up in her eye, her voice was shaking. "The place th-that will- "

"The place that will take you in no matter what terrible deeds you have wrought," finished the old widow, she too was smiling. "It's good to have you back, my child."

She held out the golden compass to Cinder - the Relic of Choice. The Relic that the Fall Maidens of old have defended for generation after generation.

"Take it dear, since you're back you must know what it is. You've seen Akiha's memories. You know what to do," she ruffled Cinder's ashen black hair and felt the ruby rose delicately. "Succeed where she failed, Cinder. The black arrow... Its- "

"Its made of Dust from the Dust mines. Only the Dust born from the pressure of the dragon can destroy it," Cinder extended her hand to help the old widow. "You need to come with me- "

Tremaine chuckled and pushed Cinder's hand away. "Don't be silly dear, don't let an old crone slow you down. This city needs you. Promise me this, promise me you'll bring peace back to my home, no _our_ home. Its the last thing this old woman has to ask of you."

Cinder nodded, "I promise."

She wiped the last of her tears from her face and took the Relic from the old crone but left her in the inferno behind her.

"Wait... You're not _leaving_ her are you?" demanded Drizella. "She _saved_ your pathetic life. This is how you repay her- "

"I'm repaying her," replied Cinder, staring at the ground. "By saving this city, so that the people will have a home to return to when I'm done. Drizella, you'll thank me some day. But for now I need you to listen to me, head straight for the White Castle do not look back, you got me? Its the most defensible place in this city, its going to be your best chance at survival."

"A-And the dragon...?"

"I'll deal with it," said Cinder, brandishing the Relic of Choice. "That thing is after this compass, your mother understood that too. So I'm taking it as far as I can away from here - don't let her death be in vain, Drizella."

Drizella nodded and sprinted down the road towards the White Castle, tears shimmering from her eyes.

 _Sigh... Armiel. It didn't work. I'm sorry._

 _What didn't work?_

 _The Relic. Touching it didn't reinstate me as the Fall Maiden._

 _HAHAHAHA what? How the hell do you think logic works? What were you expecting honestly?_

 _Sigh... I made a promise, Armiel. And I'm going to keep it. We're going to kill that thing even without the power of the Fall Maiden._

 _Well, you know where to go then._

Cinder turned her gaze towards the mountainous ruin, the only place left unmolested by dragon fire. The mines that hid a massive trove of Dust and gemstones. It was also the place that held the key to saving the city from the monster that would burn them to the ground. She tightened her grip on the Relic and sprinted towards the Dust mines.

* * *

Cinder stepped foot into the cavernous space that once imprisoned the Grimm dragon. High above and all around hung massive stalactites of rainbows, sparkling from the light of the shattered moon above. She laid the Relic of Choice at the heart of the cavern and closed her eye. _Fall Maidens of old, I seek your guidance._ She concentrated her Aura on the Dust stalactites, the cavern glowed with a brilliant luminescence and in her mind she traced the clear shape of an arrow. The cavern shook violently as stalactites of Dust dislodged from the ceiling, fusing themselves together in a white-hot molten amalgamation of material. When the lights and vibrations ceased, she opened her amber eye and a shining black iridescent arrow lay beside the Relic of Choice in the heart of the cavern.

"You..." a familiar voice came from behind Cinder.

She wheeled around to see Jansen Argyros standing by the mouth of the cavern, his sapphire encrusted sword drawn from its scabbard. He removed his heavily dented pearl white armor and threw it into the dirt.

"The black arrow. It's mine," Jansen approached slowly with his sword pointed at Cinder. "Hand it over."

"You've had your chance at your precious destiny," spat Cinder, drawing her own sword in response. "And you failed. Three times. The prophecy doesn't exist, Jansen. Destiny is a lie. We are defined by our choices - condemned to freedom in this world. We are responsible for our actions, we do things because we can and have the free will to do, not because some ancient prophecy has been pulling the strings of fate."

Jansen threw his head back and laughed his terrible laughter.

"You really have no idea do you?" smiled the Silver Eyed Warrior as he started to circle Cinder slowly. "Cinder Fall the current Fall Maiden, heir to Akiha the Fall Maiden who forged the spear that pierced the dragon- "

"That's enough!"

"Hailing from Mistral... Or so you claim when you invaded Vale," Jansen narrowed his silver eyes. "You have no idea who your parents were do you? But _I_ do. I know everything about you. Like mine, they too were descendants of the legendary Jansen Arc himself. You fit the bill for the prophecy too, there are a Chosen _Two_ right now... We can't have that now can we?"

Cinder grit her teeth and growled, "Is that why you made me leave this city? So that you could be the _one_? You're more of a fool than I thought, you keep deluding yourself with a false sense of grandeur and fairy tales- "

"Fairy tales... Don't you call them that. The prophecy is my life," barked the Silver Eyed Warrior. "The future has been written, the ink has dried. _Free will_ is the lie. Everything has been written by destiny from the start. But sometimes, even the hand of fate must be forced... And once I kill you, the prophecy will be left with only _one_ choice. Me."

Jansen leapt through a portal and appeared instantly before Cinder. He brought down his sword and she parried it with her's. A brilliant flash of golden sparks illuminated the cavern as Austenaster bit into Silver's Cry. A familiar burning sensation ran through Cinder's body, Aura Break was destroying her Aura from the inside out. She quickly shoved him aside and rolled aside to pick up the black arrow.

The Silver Eyed Warrior lunged hungrily at Cinder's blind left side once again, but she refused to parry his blows instead she dodged and rolled around choosing only to engage in exchanges with him when his unarmored body was left unguarded. Without the power of the Fall Maiden, her Aura pool depleted much more rapidly with every strike she was forced to trade, she knew that her time would come soon and from her previous clash with Jansen, she knew that Aura Break would eventually have its due. Cinder was forced into another blade lock, but she knew at once what she had to sacrifice, she let go of Silver's Cry to disengage from the blade lock and the silver blade spun high in the air and impaled itself into the ground.

 _Hey Scarface-_

 _WHAT?!_

 _There's something I've been wanting to try... And if I'm right about it could mean the difference between victory or defeat. But it comes at a cost - I would lose my sentience._

 _What? No. I'm not shutting you out, Armiel. We're doing this together. I've been defeated twice because I shut you out. I'm not making the same mistak-_

 _You'll gain the power of a Maiden._

 _What? No. We're not having this discussion._

 _Hahahaha... I see, you've changed, Scarface... Well, i_ _t's my job to analyze our fights and give you the best possible scenarios - I'm doing that right now. Answer me, do you want to save this city? Do you intend to keep your promise?_

 _Yes. Of course. But not at the cost-_

 _Good. That's all I need to hear, Cinder Fall._

 _Did you just call me...?_

 _Yeap. This could very well be my last words, can't hurt to have some niceties would it? Hahahaha alright then. Here... we... go!_

An enormous surge of energy coursed through Cinder's Grimm arm. A sensation that was all too familiar to her, the ecstatic rush of power through her body, the empowerment from a Maiden's Aura filling up her own. Cinder clawed the black obsidian mask that covered her left face and crushed it in her Grimm fingers. For the first time in years she forced open her left eye. And when she did, it flared up with angry crimson Aura, the same crimson that Raven Branwen had in her eyes - Cinder had control over the power of the Spring Maiden.

Digging into her new-found Aura pool, she armed herself with a katana made entirely from solid ice just as Raven did at Haven Academy. Controlling the incomplete Aura of a Maiden was not unfamiliar to Cinder. For a better part of her time as Fall Maiden she was only _half_ a Fall Maiden, even with half the power of Spring she knew she had everything she needed to end this duel.

"What... Sorcery is this?" cursed Jansen, his silver eyes widening in disbelief. "Maiden or not, it matters not to me. I've beaten you before when you were the Fall Maiden. And I'm going to do the same again."

"Do your worst." scowled Cinder, raising her katana over her shoulders.

The two warriors lunged at each other, locking blades and exchanging blows. Golden sparks flew as Aura Break consumed Cinder's Aura, but she knew she had plenty of Aura to trade, she just needed a big enough opening to finish the duel. Once again, Cinder could feel she was the better swordsman and this time without armor to protect Jansen, she landed a laceration across his calf and right arm. The Silver Eyed Warrior grunted in pain and his actions started to become noticeably sluggish. Cinder smiled, it was only a matter of time before she beat him into submission. She needed more time.

Cinder found an opening and lunged at it, executing a draw cut with her katana. But Jansen feinted his parry and instead sliced a portal through time and space, disappearing into its abyssal depths. The Silver Eyed Warrior reappeared twenty feet away from Cinder, as he emerged from the twisted portal, his eyes brimmed with a brilliant silver light. Cinder raised her hands but it was too late. Even having the power of the Spring Maiden was not enough. The cavern was bathed in silver light, the katana shattered in Cinder's hand and her body was pierced once again by a thousand white-hot knives, only this time Jansen Argyros was not holding anything back. This time the silver flames were out to end her life.

* * *

Tremaine grunted as the old widow tried to crawl through wreckage that was her own home. The roaring flames parted themselves without warning and a tall, black figure with skin as white as chalk and red irises that glowed brighter than dragon fire stepped into the clearing and looked down upon her. Tremaine's tired gray eyes widened in shock at the sight of the Grimm Queen.

Salem smiled her terrible arrogant smile that accentuated the purple veins in her white skin. When she spoke, even the flames themselves became silent and her voice instilled more dread than her looks.

"The Relic. Its here. Hand it over."

"You're too late, _your grace_ ," chuckled Tremaine in defiance. "I don't have it anymore."

Salem grabbed Tremaine by her gown and lifted her into the air. A powerful mental probe tunneled its way into the old crone's mind and she winced in pain as Salem ripped the memories of Cinder from Tremaine's mind. The Grimm Queen grinned in satisfaction.

"Ahhh yes, Cinder," laughed Salem, she released Tremaine and the old woman fell back into the dirt and broke her bones. "You're a fool to give the Relic to her. What did you think was going to happen? Cinder Fall is _my_ pawn. She is everything that you could never do, Tremaine. Tonight, irregardless of who comes out on top, the Relic _will_ be mine- "

"You're wrong. Everything you just said... is wrong," said Tremaine, ignoring the pain in her shattered bones plagued by osteoporosis. "The girl's changed. And when she's done with your dragon today, you can be sure she's going to come for you."

Salem knelt down and caressed Tremaine gently by her face. On one of her slender, chalk white fingers, a purple gemstone cast its brilliant light. Tremaine's graying hair regained its color, becoming a lush tea-colored brown, her pale thin skin ravaged by time became stretched taut, restored to its once beautiful complexion. The old widow was young again.

"You too were a pawn of mine, Tremaine," said Salem in a dark voice. "The power I promised you was at your fingers, all you needed to do... was reach out and take it. Plunge the dagger into the heart of your best friend, Akiha. But you were weak. Too weak. You chose to run away. You chose poorly."

"There are more important things in life- "

"Cinder, on the other hand..." Salem's mouth curled into a smile. "She was able to do what you couldn't. She was willing to take lives. She knew what she had to do for power. And as long as I have power to give her, the foolish girl will keep coming back to me."

"You're a fiend, you haven't changed at all, all these years- "

"And you've changed for the worse my dear, you've become weaker," interrupted Salem, the gemstone glowed once again. "And your _time_ is up."

When the purple light faded, Tremaine returned to her weak, old body and crumpled to the floor. Salem reached into her black robes and pulled out a smoking black dagger, holding its curved tip pointed at Tremaine's chest.

"But... Just in case you're right," smiled Salem as she plunged the black dagger into Tremaine's beating heart. Tremaine's eyes widened. The dagger went _through_ her heart, but the pain never came, instead her body felt numb as if the dagger had pierced something deeper than flesh. "I will be judge of Cinder Fall. And if I find her lacking..."

"You will _never_ win, Salem," spat the old woman.

"Pity, _you_ won't be around to see that happen," replied Salem as she withdrew the dagger and Tremaine became motionless.

A second gemstone filled the house with yellow light and the Grimm Queen vanished.

The last burning beams gave way and the house tore itself apart. Burying Tremaine in an endless inferno of dragon fire.

* * *

Cinder opened her eyes.

A great grass field stretched as far as her eyes could see. Mountains lined the horizon, but it was the eternal amber sunset from behind the mountains that caught her attention, it was a beautiful sight to behold. She reached out with both her hands to feel the wind that blew the amber leaves that fell like rain with her left hand - it was whole and human again. With the same left hand she felt her long lustrous locks of hair blowing in the autumnal wind and her smooth skin on her face, but her heart sank when she realized she no longer had Armiel with her. She was all alone.

"You're here," croaked a deep voice behind her. "Took you long enough."

Cinder wheeled around and caught a glimpse of a girl ten feet away from the only oak tree in the field. She had long flowing hair as dark as night tied into a single long ponytail, her skin was pale but not as pale as Cinder's. She was garbed in crimson armor and wore long white pants and in her hands she held an iridescent black javelin slung lazily across her shoulders. It took only one look for Cinder to judge her as one of those school delinquents types.

"You... You're Akiha."

"Ho? Don't think we've met," Akiha's amber eyes flared up with Aura and glinted with satisfaction. "Though you've seen my memories..."

"If I'm seeing you... Does it mean I'm- "

"Dead?" chuckled Akiha. "No, not quite. You _do_ have some unfinished business, though we have our doubts whether you are worthy to finish it."

"I'm starting to think I'm not worthy too... Wait, who's _we_?"

A girl dressed in a white sailor uniform with short amber hair stepped out from behind Akiha. Though she was shorter than Akiha, Cinder could tell that the girl commanded immense respect from the Fall Maiden. She too had burning amber Aura erupting from her eyes.

"Who... are you?" asked Cinder.

"That's surprising Cinder," replied the girl with a wide smile across her face. "You wear my name so proudly as your own..."

"You're Fall, the first Fall Maiden," gasped Cinder and Fall nodded.

"You're not dead yet, Cinder Fall. But should you choose to..." said Fall as she led Cinder towards the oak tree. "All you need to do is hang that compass on the oak tree and you'll join us here. For ever."

Cinder stared at the compass, the Relic of Choice that hung around her neck. She flipped it open and its red copper needle spun around fervently. When she looked up, a thousand girls shuffled out from behind Akiha. All of them had amber flames in their eyes. They were all Fall Maidens, but Cinder only recognized one other. Amber the tan-skinned girl that Cinder had murdered to usurp her power and become the Fall Maiden herself.

Fall approached Cinder and held her by the hands, beaming proudly at Cinder with smile on her face.

"You've worked hard, Cinder. You've done more than what most of us have managed to accomplish in our lifetime," said Fall, holding Cinder by the hand, guiding her towards the oak tree. "For better or for worse, you're the first Maiden in decades to have done something with the immense burden that you carry. Most of them here have just lived their lives in secrecy, a hellish existence in fear of Salem and then passed the power on. Maybe it's time for you to rest - you've earned it."

Cinder removed the Relic of Choice from around her neck and reached for the branches of the oak tree.

"Miss Cinder!" a familiar voice piped up from behind her.

Cinder wheeled around and her eyes filled up with tears. She bolted towards Anastasia and hugged her tight in her arms. The girl bore the splitting image of Ruby Rose, but instead she was dressed in tattered rags. Her short hair was jet black, exactly how Cinder remembered. But it was her starry eyes, her radiant smile and her undying positive attitude that defined Anastasia.

"Ana..." cried Cinder. "I'm so sorry... I failed you."

"Don't be, Miss Cinder," smiled Anastasia. "Miss Cinder tried your best."

"Ana, if you're here..."

"That's right, Ana is a Fall Maiden too you know. Tee-hee," Anastasia spun around and winked at Cinder, her eyes erupted with amber Aura. "Miss Cinder fulfilled Ana's biggest dream just before Ana died."

"So... Drizella is the current Fall Maiden...?"

"Big sis? No, she's a big bully. Why would Ana think of her?" Anastasia laughed at the puzzled look on Cinder's pretty face. "Miss Cinder it isn't hard to figure, you're really bad at this!"

"But... It can't be-"

"Miss Cinder, come give Ana your hand," said Anastasia and Cinder did so obediently.

Anastasia handed her the ruby rose shard in her right hand. Cinder finally understood what was happening - she held the ruby in her right and the Relic in her left. The Fall Maidens guarded the Relic of Choice, more importantly the ability for humanity to make choices and by extension, free will. Her fight wasn't simply for the souls of Mantle-3, but for free will itself, her fight was not over yet. Cinder's grip tightened on the ruby rose, she knew what she had to do.

"Ana, I have to go back," smiled Cinder. "I'm the only one who can save Mantle-3 right now."

Anastasia sprang forward and kissed Cinder on her cheek, and Cinder blushed.

"Don't worry, Miss Cinder," giggled Anastasia. " _All_ of us... We're behind you."

Reality rushed back into view.

Cinder grunted in pain as she held out her hand to shield herself from the endless waves of silver flames, but she was not alone. A thousand Fall Maidens held out their arms together and shielded Cinder from the onslaught, even Amber. A familiar enormous surge of energy rushed through her body. A sensation she had not felt since the Battle of Beacon when she fully became a Maiden for the first time. She opened both her eyes wide and they flared once again, but this time with amber Aura of Fall. A brilliant burst of amber flames enveloped her body and Cinder was dressed in a long red dress. It was nothing like the dull, wine red dress she wore after her fall. This one was bright red with glowing gold embroidery that burned as though the dress was fire itself.

When the silver flames retreated, Cinder Fall looked down upon her adversary not with hate, but with pity. The flames in her heart that once longed revenge on Jansen Argyros, or Raven Branwen or even Ruby Rose was extinguished. She was something more. She had finally became worthy. She was the Fall Maiden once again.

* * *

Author's Notes:

ALOT happens this chapter. I'm really tired as of completing this chapter so I'm not going to say much except that Marvel fans out there should immediately recognize what Salem is trying to do and I've planned this end out since the very beginning.

The next chapter or the chapter after that should be the last. Hope you guys enjoyed this story so far and look forward to the next installment as usual. Cheers!


	11. Chapter 10 - Pawn of Prophecy

**Chapter Ten – Pawn of Prophecy**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

Incandescent flames surrounded the Fall Maiden. Her eyes flared with burning amber Aura, her flowing bright red dress billowed in the wind, dancing as though it were made of fire itself. She held her black Grimm arm out and her silver sword dislodged itself and flew towards its owner as like metal to a magnet. Cinder Fall caught Silver's Cry by its handle and stared down at her silver eyed opponent, Jansen Arygyros. Lord of Mantle-3. The prophesied Chosen One. The last of the Silver Eyed Warriors. Protector of the Realm. Their clash was no longer simply about who was the Chosen One or who was the better swordsman. Their fight was something more, it challenged their very existence. Choice and free will against prophecy and destiny.

Cinder gripped her sword tight as she lunged towards Jansen, who did the exact same thing. The two slammed their swords against each other, sparks flew as Silver's Cry and Austenaster bit into each other. Jansen's silver eyes widened in disbelief. There were no luminescent gold sparks as they locked their blades, somehow his Semblance, Aura Break had no effect against the Fall Maiden.

"How... are you doing this?" growled Jansen as he struggled to hold his own against Cinder. "This can't be. No one has ever done it."

Cinder's burning amber eyes narrowed.

"You're a slow one aren't you? Don't stress out that tiny brain of your's darling," chuckled Cinder in delight. "I've been trading blows now with the sword in my left instead of my sword arm. And Armiel... has no Aura for you to destroy. You see, under the right circumstances even my greatest weakness against a Silver Eyed Warrior can become my most powerful weapon- "

"You monster!" shouted Jansen Argyros in his frustration. "You would give up your humanity for power- "

"You're right," said Cinder as she continued to attack Jansen with Silver's Cry, forcing him to defend himself. "I am a monster. But not all monsters need be destructive beasts like the one out there and sometimes it takes a monster to destroy another monster. It's over Jansen."

Jansen disengaged and repositioned himself ten feet away from Cinder through a portal drawn by Austenaster.

"This is your last chance at redemption, monster," smirked Jansen as he pointed the tip of his sword at Cinder. "Give. Me. The black arrow."

"You've already had your chance and you failed," frowned Cinder. "Your silver eyes won't work on me anymore. Your Semblance, Aura Break doesn't work against me either. And between the two of us, we both know who's better at the sword. You're a smart man, you know how this ends. This fight is over, Jansen- "

"You overestimate your chances!" growled Jansen in denial.

"Don't try it," warned Cinder as she too pointed her sword at Jansen.

Jansen Argyros slashed through space and time with his sword and leapt through the portal, reappearing behind the Fall Maiden as he brought his sword down upon her in a single heavy strike with his eyes brimming with silver light. The same attack he used to defeat Cinder Fall the first time in this very same cavern. But she was ready for him this time. A flash of vermilion blinded him momentarily as the Fall Maiden dodged his strike completely with a sudden burst of flame. She spun her silver sword and with a single decisive slash of her sword, she tore the Silver Eyed Warrior through from hip to shoulder on his back. Jansen crashed to the ground, sprawled on his belly, soaked in his own blood, his body felt numb from his shoulder down but he could feel the cold metal of Silver's Cry at his neck. The Fall Maiden's blow deliberately missed his vital organs but shattered his spine and severed his nerves so that he would be left alive.

"Kill me, you monster. Finish it," spat the Lord of Mantle-3 as he groaned in pain. "Prove me right... You are a monster."

Cinder grit her teeth and raised her sword to execute him but paused. Armiel's protests immediately started to ring in her head.

 _Kill him. What are you waiting for? KILL HIM!_

"DO IT!" yelled Jansen, panting and fighting against the pain from his wounds. "You need some motivation? I'll give you some. I _enjoyed_ killing her. Filthy scum like her, what was her name again? Annabelle?"

"ANASTASIA!"

"Anastasia. There," taunted Jansen as he laughed even in the face of death. "Nothing has ever been more satisfying in my life. Not even when I drove my sword through my father's heart. She was the scum of this city you know that?"

"SHUT UP!" demanded Cinder as tears started down her eyes.

"You want to know why I didn't do it myself?" chuckled Jansen as he spat a mouthful of blood. "Because she wasn't worth my time. She was too filthy to be killed by the Chosen One himself."

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP!"

Cinder screamed in exasperation and raised her sword high over her head again. Jansen smiled and closed his eyes, ready to embrace death.

The _clang_ of metal resounded throughout the cavern and Jansen opened his silver eyes. Cinder Fall had broken Silver's Cry in half with the herculean strength of her Grimm arm and flung the pieces aside, safely out of Jansen's reach. She turned around and headed for the exit of the cavern.

"Please, Cinder Fall... Just kill me already," groaned Jansen as he tried to crawl closer. "Is this how you are going to avenge her? A fate worse than death- "

"This has nothing to do with vengeance," replied Cinder as she whipped out a scroll from her brilliant red dress and tossed it into the dirt beside Jansen. "Vengeance will only breed more vengeance. So I'm going to end it by giving up on it. That scroll has only one contact on it - Winter Schnee. She's the only person left in this city, no - this world who will come help you."

"Hahaha... If you walk away from me," growled Jansen. "I'll be coming for you. You will regret this day, Cinder Fall. You will regret that- "

"Jansen Arc," interrupted Cinder, for the first time in her life she had genuine pity in her voice. "The path of vengeance doesn't end well. You only need to look at me to know the cost I paid..."

"DON'T YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!"

As Jansen's screams faded behind her, Cinder Fall removed the black arrow strung on her shoulders and held it in her hands as she left the Dust mines. Her gaze was resolute, her path was clear, she had her eye on the black Grimm dragon that threatened to raze her home, Mantle-3 to the ground.

* * *

 _Why didn't you kill him Scarface? Don't you remember what he did to us, what he did to Ana?_

 _Not important anymore Armiel. Killing him won't bring Ana back to life-_

 _What? You heard him, he enjoyed it._

 _Doesn't matter. That wasn't the objective, Armiel. It's weird for me to tell you this, you should know better._

 _Hahaha, that's real wise coming from you-_

 _Killing him means that I am forced to become the Chosen One. Sparing him denies the prophecy and as long as there are two people that fulfill its conditions..._

 _Choice and free will triumphed over prophecy and destiny in that fight..._

 _That's right. It was a test, Armiel. The power of the Fall Maiden didn't come back to me for nothing. They were testing me..._ Choice _is the true power of Fall._

Cinder grasped the Relic of Choice firmly in her left hand and it glowed from the inside with a brilliant flash of amber.

A terrifying screech reverberated through the air. The Grimm dragon turned its ominous crimson red eyes towards the Dust mines as it flapped it massive wings and sailed effortlessly through the sky, straight towards the Fall Maiden.

Cinder Fall smiled as she conjured a shimmering longbow from molten glass, she strung the black arrow and pulled the bowstrings back as far as she could. It was all too easy, she just needed to let go and the dragon would come tumbling out of the sky. But before she could release the arrow that would surely slay the dragon, a thunderous chime echoed from the clock tower of Mantle-3, Cinder turned her gaze at the face of the clock and read the time in horror. It was twelve midnight.

The strength of the Fall Maiden dissipated from her body. Her eyes lost their burning amber flare and she fell to her knees panting, the feeling was all too familiar - Cinder lost the power of Fall once again, but the Grimm dragon stayed its course towards her. The Relic rattled and a single amber wisp emerged from within the compass, a girl dressed in a white sailor uniform with flame-colored hair and a wide, friendly smile on her face. Cinder immediately recognized her as Fall, the first Fall Maiden.

 _This is the final test, Cinder. Slaying a dragon has always been the hallmark of a hero. And none of them have done it with the immense power of a Maiden-_

 _So you took it away from me again?_

 _We need confirmation that you are worthy-_

 _This is madness. Its a death sentence you passed on me. This accomplishes nothing. The Relic goes to Salem if I fail tonight-_

 _This is purely Ana's decision, Cinder. She passed the power back to you when she died, now she needs to know that you're worthy to wield it again._

 _Ana..._

Cinder grasped her molten glass longbow tight in her hands. Without the power of the Fall Maiden, the searing heat of the flames stung her hands, but it only served as a bitter reminder of her weakness and she held it tighter. She drew the bow back once again with the black arrow loaded and took her aim at the Grimm dragon.

 _Scarface, just a quick reminder. The previous Fall Maiden, Akiha failed because dragon fire is strong enough to melt Dust-_

 _See that hole in its armor there?_

 _Darling, that thing isn't stupid. It knows that's its weakness-_

Cinder adjusted her aim higher, pointing at the maw of the dragon instead.

 _The mouth then. When that thing opens its mouth, we put an arrow through its skull._

 _Could work. But the arrow has to land before fire comes out. We have like a millisecond's window. I'm not digging our chances-_

 _A hundred and one shots out of a hundred and one, Armiel. We'll make it happen._

The Grimm dragon parted its jaws and Cinder let loose the black arrow. The arrow streaked across the night sky, an iridescent black comet that flew straight towards the gaping maw of the beast, but it was too late. Burning flames ignited in the Grimm dragon's jaws as it unleashed a massive torrent of dragon fire. The black arrow collided with dragon fire, shattering into a million shimmering rainbow shards and a smiled spread across Cinder's face as she saw it happen.

Cinder Fall rolled out of the path of the destruction wrought by dragon fire that would have incinerated her alive and clenched her hand into a fist. The rainbow shards under her direction regathered themselves and with a brilliant flash of amber flames, the shards fused themselves back together, restoring the black arrow once again. The arrow continued its flight forward, but this time it headed straight for the dragon's left breast, the kink in its impenetrable armor where Jansen's second arrow had destroyed a single black scale. The arrow pierced the dragon's flesh with ease and lanced its beating heart that burst into bright amber flames as the arrow detonated itself, destroying the Grimm dragon's heart from the inside out.

The Grimm dragon let out a deafening shriek as it made one final attempt to climb into the night sky and went limp. The light faded from its crimson red eyes, dragon fire flickered and died in its belly as the dragon slowly started to dissipate, soot and ash blew in the wind like fallen leaves during autumn, when the remains of its body hit the ground it did so with an impact as though it were a bag of feathers.

Cinder heaved a huge sigh of relief. The longbow disappeared and she fell to her knees. She held up the Relic of Choice wrapped around her neck, and as she did so she felt the enormous surge of power through her body restoring the power of Fall.

* * *

"Y-You did it!"

Cinder wheeled around and was blinded by a mass of tea-colored hair colliding into her. Drizella embraced her so tightly that Cinder struggled for breath.

"D-Drizella, hey let me go, I-I can't breathe!" choked Cinder.

Drizella released her grip and held Cinder at arm's length, beaming at her proudly.

"Well, your _worship..._ " Drizella blushed as she spoke. "I'm sorry for everything I've done- "

Cinder cupped her hands on Drizella's mouth to silence her.

"Don't be dear," smiled Cinder as she started to laugh. " _Worship_... Hmmm really you couldn't have chosen a better word?"

"After what you did here today... I'm sure you'll be worshiped through the ages!" started Drizella excitedly and Cinder could see a hint of Anastasia's personality shining through. "They will sing songs, tell stories about you. Cinder Fall the dragon slayer- "

"Hold it," interrupted Cinder as she held her hand out, beckoning Drizella to get behind her.

Twenty feet away from them, Cinder could make out the silhouette of an old woman hobbling towards the pair. The Relic of Choice rattled fervently and Cinder propped open the compass only to see its red copper needle pointing away from the old crone. Cinder shut the compass and looked up, the Fall Maiden fully understood what was happening.

"MUM!" yelled Drizella as she pushed past Cinder, sprinting towards Tremaine. "You made it! You're alive!"

"Drizella get back here," said Cinder curtly, she flexed her Grimm fingers, ready to forcefully pull the girl back. "That's not your mother."

Drizella skidded to a halt and cried out in disbelief. "W-What? She's right here, what do you mean!"

"Drizella... Cinder..." croaked Tremaine weakly. "Come help me here."

A flash of vermilion and Cinder armed herself with a molten glass scimitar.

"Your mother's dead Drizella," frowned Cinder as she took on her battle stance. "If you still refuse to believe me... Ask _her_ to tell us what home means."

Drizella started to back away slowly. "M-Mum... Prove it to her! C'mon, you beat this into our ears every day, this should be easy! Home is..."

"Home is..." started Tremaine, but she struggled past the first two words. A red gleam shone in Tremaine's irises as she started to shed her facade and smiled as she spoke with a terrifyingly familiar voice. "Cinder dear, why did you have to go and do this?"

Cinder's Grimm arm shot out, pulling Drizella back to safety just as a second Grimm arm extending to anatomically impossible distances from Tremaine and tore a gaping hole in the ground where Drizella would have stood.

"RUN!"

Drizella bolted towards the smoking city of Mantle-3 immediately and Cinder turned her head back only to be met with a horrifying sight.

Black miasma surrounded Tremaine as the old widow twisted and warped at weird angles that would have cracked her bones, its movements made even Cinder's stomach turn with discomfort. The old crone straightened her back, her graying hair further lost its color, her skin became bleached as white as chalk but her sclerae turned black as coal with irises red as blood.

When the darkness faded, Salem the Grimm Queen glared at Cinder with her arms folded.

* * *

 **Chapter 11[A] - Happily Never [A]fter**

Author's notes: Just like in chapter 8.5 the story will branch into multiple non-linear alternate endings.

* * *

Salem towered high above Cinder, on her chalk white fingers crawling with horrifying purple veins sat two rings, one with a purple gemstone and the other with a yellow gemstone.

"Kneel," commanded Salem.

Cinder dipped her head and bent the knee obediently. Her day of reckoning had come. Today Salem would make her pay for her failure at Haven Academy, her failure to obtain the Relic of Knowledge and from past experience, Cinder knew that her master did not take failure well.

"You have failed me, Cinder."

"I... I have no excuse," said Cinder, her eye fixed on the ground. "I was blinded by revenge, I wanted power- "

"Power... Have I not already promised you power?" interrupted Salem as she caressed the gemstones in her rings gently.

"Yes you have."

"And revenge... Fool's gold, dear. I expected more from you." smiled Salem. "Even though you failed to retrieve the Relic of Knowledge, you did managed to acquire the Relic of Choice."

Cinder's eye fell on the Relic around her neck. She removed it and held it tight in her Grimm arm.

"Hand it over," ordered Salem.

A thousand voices, the souls of all the Fall Maidens rang in her head as Cinder held out the Relic of Choice and offered it to Salem. It was wrong, but it was the only way Cinder knew that she could undo her mistakes and regain Salem's confidence in her once again. She had no choice but to give the Relic to her master.

Salem grasped the compass by the chain and held it high triumphantly.

"After all these years, Oz..." Salem's blood red eyes glowed with fanatical obsession as she spoke to it. "The Relic of Choice... Buried in myth, lost to fairy tales. The most important Relic you entrusted to the eldest and wisest of the four sisters. You thought it would be safe with her... You thought wrong."

The Relic glowed a brilliant amber light and vibrated violently as Salem concentrated her dark magic on the golden compass, eventually cracking and giving way under the immense power of the Grimm Queen. As the compass shattered, it revealed the single amber gemstone concealed within its depths.

"The Soul Stone..." murmured Salem, then she turned her head towards Cinder. "You know, dear. Its a real pity that Emerald couldn't be here to witness this moment. Her faith in you has been severely shaken by your failure at Haven."

"E-Emerald..." mumbled Cinder as she got to her feet. "Is she alright? What have you done with her? It wasn't her fault, y-you haven't been torturing her have you?"

 _Cinder, NO!_

A horrid pain lanced Cinder through her chest. When she looked down, there was a gaping hole in her left breast, blood erupted profusely where Salem's Grimm arm had shattered her ribs and torn her heart out. Cinder fell to knees in shock and her vision started to fade from the loss of blood.

"Your heart... it's gone _soft,_ Cinder. Did poor Tremaine teach you how to become weak?" chuckled Salem in her terrible high laughter as she held Cinder's heart in her hand. "Don't worry dear, Emerald is doing fine, you can die knowing that. And since she was your last words, _Emerald_ would become the next Fall Maiden."

Salem reached out and grasped the Soul Stone in her chalk white fingers.

"Three down... Three to go."

"T-Two down, _four_ to go..." interrupted Cinder, forcing a smile on her face as she uttered her last words. "And no. There's no way I would burden Emerald with the power of the Fall Maiden."

Salem stared at the gemstone in Cinder's hand and her blood-red eyes burned with fury. It was a ruby. A _ruby rose_. There was only one person that Salem knew that meant. With a final peaceful smile, Cinder Fall collapsed into a lifeless heap and the amber Aura of Fall shot into the sky. In her hands, the Soul Stone vibrated and dissipated through her fingers, melding together with the Fall Maiden's Aura as it flew towards its new host, Ruby Rose.

Salem cursed and whipped out one of her two rings, engaging the infinite power on the purple gemstone it bathed the field with radiant purple light. The amber Aura of the Fall Maiden retraced its path back into Cinder, expelling the Soul Stone from the Fall Maiden's Aura. Cinder's heart leapt out from her hand and flew back into her chest and the Fall Maiden opened her eyes and was alive again. Time was starting to wind back on itself.

 **\- BAD END -**


	12. Chapter 12 - To Be or not to be

**Chapter 11[B] – To [B]e or not to be**

Author's notes: Ending B picks up directly as a result of the consequences of Ending A

* * *

"Hand it over," ordered Salem.

A thousand voices, the souls of all the Fall Maidens echoed in Cinder's head as she held out the Relic of Choice to her master, whose blood-red irises gleamed in satisfaction. At Salem's chalk white fingers, the Time Stone gradually dimmed its glow as she reached out her hand to take the Relic...

But her fingers never reached the golden chain of the compass. Cinder was slowly starting to retract her hand. For the first time in a long while, Cinder mustered the courage to look Salem directly in her terrifying crimson red eyes and a glint of defiance burned deep within her only good amber eye.

"I-I can't do it," started Cinder, she strung the Relic back around her neck and rose to her feet. "This is wrong. It is the job of the Fall Maiden to guard the Relic of Choice. And I _am_ the Fall Maiden- "

Salem's face contorted with rage.

"So be it, _Fall Maiden_ ," breathed Salem as she turned her back on her servant to face the smoking city of Mantle-3. "I will allow you to keep the Relic for a while longer, Cinder. In exchange, I expect complete obedience from you. I need to know that you are ready to return to my service... For that, I require a tribute."

Salem tilted her head back, her crimson eyes burned with hunger as she surveyed Cinder.

"T-Tribute?" stuttered Cinder confused.

"Yes. A tribute. A gift of obedience, dear. A symbol of your submission to your Queen. I want this city Cinder," Salem's lips curled into a terrible smile.

"Your Grace," protested Cinder. "Once Your Grace has all four Relics... Remnant will be yours, let alone this- "

"I want this city to be soot and ash, Cinder," ordered Salem. This time when she spoke, Cinder's voice was drowned out as if the air between them had silenced the Fall Maiden. "I want you to burn them all."

To burn Mantle-3 to the ground would be as simple as snapping her fingers now that she regained full control over the power of Fall, a feat that the old Cinder Fall atop Beacon Tower would have been more than gleeful to carry out. There was no better way for her to display her prowess as a Maiden - to be given free reign to fully exert her dominance over an entire city. Raze to cinders whosoever she desired, reduce buildings to ash with just a wave of her hand, take lives as easily as if she were bending a twig. Why then had it becoming so unfulfilling?

A dreadful feeling clawed at Cinder's heart and she knew exactly what it was. The people of Mantle-3, Tremaine, Drizella, Anastasia, even the miners that pulled her from Dust mines gave her a place to rest, a shelter over her head while she recovered, but above all a place she knew she could always return _no matter what terrible deeds she has wrought._ Mantle-3 was her home, the city that she laid her life down to protect from a vicious fire-breathing dragon, there was no way she would destroy it.

"I can't do it," replied Cinder, around her neck the Relic of Choice glowed with a brilliant amber light. "I _won't_ do it."

Dark energy sizzled at Salem's fingertips as she turned around to face Cinder, her pale white features devoid of emotion.

"You have made your final choice then," retorted Salem, the two gemstones on her fingers glowed an equally brilliant purple and yellow light. " _Fall Maiden._ "

* * *

The air crackled with energy as Cinder met Salem's bolt of black lightning with her molten glass scimitar. The Fall Maiden grunted as she struggled to hold her sword against the endless torrent of dark lightning. Through the dark energy she could see her master folding her arms idly as she called forth bolt after bolt of lightning to overwhelm Cinder from a distance. Salem's fearsome reputation as Remnant's most powerful individual not without cause, the Queen of the Grimm held no weapon even in the face of an incredibly powerful opponent like the Fall Maiden, but Cinder could easily see why she did not _need_ to either.

Cinder's sword started to crack at the edge. She cursed and released her grip just as it exploded into countless shards of molten glass. She rolled and dodged a series of lightning strikes then with a flash of vermilion, conjured her bow and three flaming arrows nocked and ready. With a grin, she let loose of all three arrows. The arrows whistled through the air with the same deadly accuracy that felled the Grimm dragon. Black bolts of lightning homed in on the arrows, easily destroying them mid-air, but they simply regenerated and stayed their course - straight towards Salem's head.

The arrows detonated upon impact, but the Grimm Queen was no longer there. Cinder gasped and spun around. Predicting Salem's arrival behind her, she stretched her Grimm arm out. Cinder's prediction was spot-on, with a flash of yellow light Salem teleported straight into Cinder's waiting Grimm arm but Armiel was forced to come to a halt a mere inch away from tearing its Queen's head to shreds.

 _Armiel, what are you doing-_

 _I-I can't. Salem has control over me. I'm fighting but she's too stron-_

Salem's own arm shot out and grabbed Cinder by her neck, lifting her high into the air. Salem's grip clamped her throat like a vice, choking the breath from her lungs, but Cinder could feel something more than just her air leaving her body. Salem's arm glowed amber and Cinder's eye widened - the Grimm Queen was slowly siphoning away the power of the Fall Maiden from her. Cinder struggled with all her might, but she knew it was futile, she had even lost control of Armiel, without its guidance she knew stood no chance against her master.

"A pity, Cinder. It really is. Why does it always end this way?" smirked Salem as she started to drink in the amber Aura of Fall. "When I met you... You were a burning beacon of raw, untamed potential. Power, that's something _anyone_ can attain, be it pure talent or years of training or even if you forcefully ripped it from someone and placed it in another. Oz understood this fact too Cinder, why do you think the Old Man of the Tale decided to defend the Relics by building _schools_ on top of them?"

"But you Cinder," continued Salem as she turned her frightening red eyes to her struggling servant. "Your _drive_ for power. That's something no school can ever hope to educate their students. Oz failed to understand that he could only impart so much power, so much knowledge. But to truly become great, it is a journey inwards. It is something that one must _crave_. You were once a brilliant example of that Cinder Fall, prepared to do whatever it took to gain power. Make no mistake, your hunger for power is the very same thing that made you strong. Poetic don't you think that you were the one to show Oz that _I_ was right. But now... You have become something lesser. You, dear are my greatest achievement and also my greatest disappointment."

Salem released her monstrous grip on Cinder and she crumpled to the ground gasping for air. Drained of her power as the Fall Maiden once again, she struggled to even catch her breath.

Fall's voice rang in her head, emanating from the Relic itself. _Choice... That is the true power of the Fall Maiden, Cinder._

The compass around her neck rattled furiously and Cinder came to a stark revelation, she noticed a small detail that could turn the tides of her rebellion against her master.

* * *

 _"Always"? Why would Salem say that? How many times has this happened?_

 _Hahaha finally catching on aren't you, Scarface?_

 _A-Armiel! I thought you were gone-_

 _You wish._

 _Time. Its time isn't it? Salem has been looping time over and over and over. There's no way she predicted my movements-_

Cinder caught a glimpse of the two gemstones on Salem's fingers shining their radiant light over the mountainous plain. But which was it?

 _Its the purple one, dear. The Time Stone. One of six artifacts that grants the wielder infinite power over one cosmic property. Unfortunately for us she controls both the Time Stone AND Space Stone._

 _The compass, the Relic of Choice... Its the container for the Soul Stone. Wait, how am I remembering this?_

 _Keep that at the back of your head, Scarface. I'll come back to that. The four Relics of Remnant each contain-_

 _One of the four remaining Stones?_

 _Mind. Soul. Power. Reality. The Infinity Stones._

 _How many times has this been going on? How am I supposed to defeat an enemy who always knows the future?_

 _I lost count after the thousandth time. But there is a way to end this endless loop, Cinder. Its the same reason you remember the Soul Stone is inside the Relic of Choice. In some paths you succeed in escaping the time loop - by using the power of one Stone to temporarily cancel out the power of another-_

 _It's not going to work. Salem has two, we only have one. We're going to lose the numbers game-_

 _It's funny that you should mention numbers, Scarface. A quick math question then - what do you get from the sum of infinity and one?_

 _Infinity._

 _How about infinity and two?_

 _Infinity._

 _How about infinity and infinity - you get where this is going don't you? Infinity is the cosmic limit on how much power anyone can possess. Having one more Stone doesn't make a difference._

 _Let's do it then._

 _It's not so simple, Scarface. In all scenarios I've seen so far... You die. And then Salem resets the time loop. Salem needs you to retrieve the Soul Stone for her. That's the reason she's been looping time over. To make sure you stay alive till then-_

 _Trapped forever in an endless slave-master cycle._

 _Not forever, dear. There_ IS _one variation we have yet to try... But it will involve a sacrifice._

In her mind, Cinder was already aware of the answer, but she did not want to face it.

 _What kind of sacrifice?_

 _The kind that will end this._ I _am the reason you die, Cinder Fall. Salem forcefully takes control over me and I rip your heart out in every outcome. To walk away from this today, you have to let me go me when the time comes-_

 _We're not having this conversation. I'm not giving you up, Armiel._

 _Sigh... Cinder,_ THIS _is the only variation we have yet to try._

* * *

"Cinder," grinned Salem, offering out her terrible chalk white hand. "I am willing to offer you one last chance. Open the Relic. Give me the Soul Stone and I will forgive all your mistakes, I will even grant you the power that you crave so badly- "

"Hahaha..." scoffed Cinder as she slowly rose to her feet, around her neck the Relic of Choice burned with a brilliant amber flame. "You don't get it, do you?"

Salem scowled in frustration, black bolts of energy crackled at her fingertips once again.

"Power... I already have infinite power," Cinder frowned. The Relic propped itself open and its needle spun so rapidly that it started to vanish, revealing the Soul Stone that was housed deep within the compass. "There is nothing more you can give me, Salem. _You_ have outlived your own usefulness."

Dark lightning shot forth from Salem, but as it struck the Fall Maiden the lightning parted harmlessly around her as Cinder started to approach Salem slowly. Through the crackling bolts of lightning Salem could make out a thousand orange silhouettes, the souls of every Fall Maiden stood hand in hand with Cinder.

"Fall was right. I already had everything I wanted; it was always right in front of me," smiled Cinder as she realized the senselessness, the folly of her old ways. "But the quest for power is self-destructive. And it has taken away from me the people that I cared about. I won't let that happen again."

Cinder grasped the compass tight as she tried to touch the Time Stone on Salem's finger with the Soul Stone. The two stones vibrated violently as they started to resonate with each other.

"NO!" screamed Salem. Never had Cinder seen the Grimm Queen lose her composure. For the first time in her life Cinder could feel genuine fear from the mighty Salem. "You wouldn't! If the Stones touch each other with that much energy, they could annihilate each other! You wouldn't be so stupid as to deny INFINITE power?!"

Cinder felt an incredible jerk as her Grimm arm darted around and flew towards her own chest, attempting to claw her own heart out but froze once again mere inches away from tearing through her chest.

 _Scarface! This is it. This is as far as we go. I can't hold out much longer. We've talked about this._

 _Armiel, I can do it. I can almost reach it..._

 _LISTEN TO ME. It has never happened, and it will never happen. If I pull your heart out we both die, or you can cut me out an-_

 _I'm not cutting you ou-_

 _And only ONE of us dies. The choice is simple. DO IT!_

Cinder hardened her heart and opened her left eye and it burned with the crimson Aura of Spring. Winds started to gather and shards of razor sharp icicles formed in the air.

 _Without sacrifice, there cannot be victory. You know this-_

 _Armiel... I am so sorry..._

 _Hahaha no you're not. Sigh... I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to miss you Scarface..._

The icicles tore through Cinder's Grimm arm, severing it from her shoulder and she screamed aloud not from the excruciating pain, but she screamed as she felt Armiel's consciousness depart from her mind. Reinvigorated with a sudden burst of strength, Cinder Fall pressed on forward and touched the Soul Stone with the Time Stone.

A massive burst of white light enveloped both Cinder and Salem, blasting them away from each other, leaving the two women sprawled on the ground. The light in both Stones dimmed and Cinder could sense that the prison of time had finally been broken.

Cinder swiftly picked herself up. With a flash of crimson she froze water droplets in the air into to forge an ice katana and lunged at Salem who was still dazed from the impact, lying motionless on her back. Cinder spun around and brought her katana down straight towards Salem's neck. The blade was inches from decapitating the Grimm Queen, but Salem activated the Space Stone. A burst of yellow light blinded Cinder momentarily and she could only hear the hollow _skkrrttttt_ of her katana scoring through the soil and dirt. When her vision returned, Salem was gone.

* * *

 **-One Week Later-**

"Hey! Your Worship!" shouted Drizella as she ran down the charred remains of Mantle-3's marketplace.

Cinder tilted her head and smiled. Drizella collided into Cinder and the two girls hugged each other tight.

"Where would you be headed now?" asked Drizella as they strolled down the ruins of the city.

"I don't know," replied Cinder, shrugging her shoulders, bothered by her answer once again. "Mantle perhaps? The _real_ Mantle I mean."

Drizella burst into laughter. It took Cinder a moment, but she quickly remembered that was how their first conversation started - Mantle. Her lips curled into a smile as she ruffled Drizella's long tea-coloured hair affectionately.

"You know..." started Drizella slowly, the girl was blushing. "Like Ana, I've actually really admired you too- "

"You girls have got a real shitty taste for role models haven't you?" scoffed Cinder, but she smiled.

"And I would really like to be able to protect my home when Your Worship is gone... So I've decided to enroll at Haven Academy to learn how to become a Huntress. Someday I'm going to be strong just like you."

"The school's in shambles, Drizella. And if we lose the war, none of this would matter anyway," sighed Cinder as she stared at the loose sleeve of her empty left arm. "But that aside..."

Cinder held out her right hand and there was a blinding flash of vermilion light. The Fall Maiden constructed a curved obsidian sword and handed it to Drizella.

"Well then, every Huntress has got to have a weapon, don't they?" said Cinder as she beamed proudly at Drizella who inspected the sword in awe. "They say it's superstition... But all the best swords have names. What are you going to call this one?"

Cinder's chest tightened as she recited Armiel's words.

"Obsidian Midnight," declared Drizella as she held the sword up triumphantly. "After how you killed the dragon at midnight with an obsidian arrow. That should inspire me to work hard... Right?"

"There's... One more thing I need to give you," said Cinder. She removed the ruby rose from her hair and planted it in Drizella's brown hair.

"I can't have it. Ana gave it to you," protested Drizella, but Cinder politely pushed her hand away.

"You need it more than I do Drizella," smiled Cinder as she waved farewell to Drizella and the city she had come to call home.

The Fall Maiden propped open the Relic of Choice. Its needle spun two rounds and pointed decisively towards North West. Cinder Fall looked up and beyond the horizon as she took her first steps towards the city of Atlas.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Alright that's a wrap for Ending B. This is the true end. It's the end that I imagined from the day I penned the first chapter, before I spouted all sorts of sharper ideas which could make better, more tragic endings. I feel that I succeeded reasonably well in what I set out to do - compose a redemption arc for my favorite character in RWBY. And it's been incredible how much development the character has gone through since the start of her journey back in Chapter 1 that sometimes I feel guilty for taking such a broken character and turning her into something else, but I hope that you guys have found her change and development convincing.

About why I chose to throw in the Infinity Stones from Marvel into this fic. The first reason is that when it was revealed in canon that Salem was after 4 Relics that had cosmic influence over the realm, it was incredibly disappointing to me especially because we have seen Marvel do this before and better in every way. Having the Relics of Remnant be the last 4 Stones that Salem is after sounded appealing to me in my head as I was composing this fic so I just threw it in.

The second reason is simpler, because they are artifacts of INFINITE POWER. Hell, canon Cinder would be having spasms just by hearing the possibility of infinite power. And my arc for her was simple too - by the end of the fic, Cinder needs to realize there are more important things than power, that she would come to the self-realization that she would give up infinite power, and to really show her final transformation, she needed to give up Armiel, her Grimm arm that allowed her to continue to acquire more power from the other Maidens. And this moment was especially emotional for her too, because she wasn't just giving up power - she was giving up a friend that she's grown to love and care for throughout the fic.

Even Armiel has gone through a ton of character development. He starts out as a selfish, arrogant Grimm parasite only interested in ensuring his own survival, and by the end of the fic he has become more human than even Cinder, he learns sacrifice and selflessness so that Cinder could live on and he knows that this is for the collective good of the realm too.

As for Salem... She is in my opinion the most disappointing villain in canon. We only ever heard her being powerful and that she always gets what she wants, but never actually see her do anything or accomplish anything. By that note that's really all I had to work with for this fic. Her lightning powers are a reference to Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars of course. And her cunning and strategic mind comes from Salem abusing the power of the Time and Space Stones to see all the possible outcomes and therefore always has the best plan and always gets what she wants. Hopefully this version of Salem has been more terrifying than anything RT has put forth so far though really I haven't any large shoes to fill.

I'm currently working on an Ending C and then maybe a chapter just dedicated to explaining the narrative choices in this fic. Hopefully procrastination doesn't eat me like it did this week. Cheers, people!


	13. Chapter 13 Ending C, Ending D

**Chapter 11[C] – Re[C]ourse**

Warning: This fanfic **will** spoil the events of RWBY up to Volume 5. The story picks up immediately after the events of _Downfall_

* * *

Sparkling icicles tore into Cinder's Grimm arm, ripping Armiel apart from her shoulder. The pain was excruciating, but none that Cinder had not already experienced atop Beacon Tower. Somewhere in her head, Armiel's wisdom lingered in her mind even though she could feel their consciousness being torn apart from one another: _Remember the objective._

Cinder gripped the Relic of Choice tight and collided the Soul Stone contained within with the Time Stone on Salem's fingers. A brilliant burst of light consumed the Fall Maiden and the Grimm Queen as they were sucked into a twisting vortex that warped reality on itself.

Cinder stared blankly at the run-down wooden table and a bowl of steaming hot porridge at her front.

"Dear, are you okay?" asked the wispy old woman across the table. "We haven't- "

"Haven't poisoned it," finished Cinder instinctively as she lapped up the bowl of porridge. It was every bit as delicious as she remembered, it was warm and not too salty, but most importantly she could taste the effort Tremaine put into making even a simple meal. Tears rolled down Cinder's cheek as she put down the bowl. "Thank you so much... I-It's beautiful... It's the most delicious thing I've ever ha- "

"Hee hee Mum makes the best porridge in the world," teased the starry eyed girl with short jet black hair by Cinder's left. "Plenty where that came from if you could stay for dinner tomorrow."

"Ana, don't be rude. I'm sure our guest is busy and would like to be on her way," frowned Tremaine at her daughter. "I'm terribly sorry dear, but what was your name again?"

"It's Cinder Fall." replied Cinder as she ruffled Anastasia's hair affectionately. _Ana... I-Is this real?_

"COOL!" exclaimed Anastasia as she rose from her seat. "Your last name is Fall? Like the Maiden in the stories?"

Cinder shrugged her shoulders and smiled cryptically at Anastasia. Perhaps it was best not to let Ana know she was the Fall Maiden.

"Mum," said Drizella irritably on Cinder's right. "The ball at the White Castle- "

"We've talked about this Drizella, it's not happening."

"You only said that you won't let me and Ana go by ourselves. Surely it would be fine if _Cinder Fall_ here accompanies us to the ball?"

"W-Well the ball is only for those of high social status, dear. The guests are invited by Lord Jansen himse- "

"I can get us in," interrupted Cinder with a grin on her face and both daughters' faces lit up with excitement. "I'm invited. I'm sure I'll work something out to get the girls in."

"But we're going to need better clothes than these," continued Cinder as she held up her unflattering white rags. "If you could be so kind as to provide me with enough cloth, I could _make_ three dresses for the ball."

"COOL!" exclaimed both girls this time as they stared at Cinder with their starry eyes.

A familiar tug yanked Cinder violently in protest and she stared down at her bandaged Grimm arm clutching tight a golden compass, the Relic of Choice, the Soul Stone.

 _What the hell do you think you're doing?_

 _Armiel-_

 _Who the hell is Armiel? Look here Scarface, we have things to do and places to go-_

 _What's the rush, Armiel? This here... This is family-_

 _Stop it. Stop calling me that. Haven't you any cre-_

 _Creativity? Perhaps I should use the Relic of Creation to conjure myself creativity?_

 _How the hell did you kno-_

 _It's going to be a long story, Armiel..._

* * *

 **Chapter 11[D] - A[D] Infinitum**

Author's Notes: Ending D is a epilogue to Ending B. This is the final narrative chapter in this fic.

* * *

Dim candle lights lit the hallway, casting it in an eternal shade of blood red and shades of purple.

Salem drummed her fingers on the long wooden table impatiently, studying the chessboard in front of her. The black queen shuddered and lost its color, but it did not become a white queen but rather a curious shade of gray, flitting between light and darkness.

"Your Grace... The loss of Cinder- " began Watts but was silenced almost immediately by Salem.

"Whatever happens to Cinder Fall is of no concern to me," replied Salem dismissively. "We will proceed as planned. _Nothing_ will stand in my way."

"Your Grace, Cinder now holds one of the four Relics, are we not going to at least consider- " protested Watts.

"How very helpful of you to _remind_ me Arthur," interrupted Salem as she narrowed her dark red eyes. "We have let slip of both the Relics of Choice and Knowledge, but only temporarily. They will all eventually be mine. Destiny itself has decreed it."

Before Arthur could utter another word, a horrifying tear in space appeared behind Salem and a girl with burning green Aura erupting from her red eyes stepped out from the depths of the yellow portal conjured by the Space Stone on Salem's fingers. Arthur, Hazel and Tyrian's eyes widened in shock as they laid their eyes on the girl. There was no mistaking it - they were in the presence of another one of the four Maidens.

"You see, while you twats have been failing and crying yourselves dry over the smallest of issues," Salem turned her eyes on her newest servant who bent the knee before her Queen. " _Emerald_ here has seen to it that Shade Academy has fallen. You have done well, dear. Bravo. I am thoroughly impressed."

"Your Grace," murmured Emerald Sustrai in a stoic, emotionless voice as she presented Salem with a dazzling golden sword adorned with a single marvelous green gemstone at its hilt. "The Relic of Destruction is yours. Proof of Shade Academy - no, _Vacuo's_ demise."

Salem took the sword from Emerald and studied it with fanatical delight, the glow from her red irises made all her servants shift uneasily, all but Emerald.

"You have served me well, Emerald. You have succeeded where Cinder has failed time and again. Your power has eclipsed her's. It is time to let the past die, Emerald Sustrai..." Salem held up the golden sword high into the air.

Salem brought the blade down, gently tapping Emerald carefully once across each shoulder.

"Rise," smiled the Grimm Queen with dark satisfaction as she withdrew the sword. "Emerald _Summer._ "

Emerald rose to her feet, with a new-found purpose in her life. She was now Salem's Black Queen. The Summer Maiden that would do her Queen's bidding without question. Something that Cinder with all her ego could never do.

Dark energy crackled as Salem assaulted the Relic of Destruction with an immense surge of black lightning. The golden sword cracked and vibrated and eventually shattered, exposing the green gemstone from its hilt, levitating mid-air. It was the only thing Salem was truly interested in - the Power Stone. The gemstone flew towards the Grimm Queen and attached itself to a third ring with an empty bezel on Salem's fingers and all three Infinity Stones cast their radiant light as they resonated with each other.

"Come dear," beckoned Salem as she conjured a yellow portal. "We have one last thing to do."

The Summer Maiden dipped her head slightly as she followed her queen into the shimmering yellow portal and vanished.

* * *

Winter Schnee grasped tight in her hands a bouquet of fresh winter roses, their petals were light blue like the sky and as cool as ice. Blue was his color and she knew of no better gift to cheer him up.

Her pace slowed down as she approached the double doors that led to Jansen Arc's study. Her heart raced and her face flushed. What if he wouldn't forgive her for what happened at the ball? What if he blamed her for coming too late? What if he never wanted to see her again? Winter took a deep breath and mustered her courage to knock on the doors but she noticed something was terribly amiss.

Through the gaps of the double doors, brilliant lights were dancing from Jansen's study inside. Bright, piercing yellow light and a sickly purple light. She pushed open the doors, but before she could lay eyes on the man she was so madly in love with, she was frozen. Frozen in time.

Jansen Arc stared at the chessboard in frustration with his dull silver eyes, tugging at his unkempt faded blond hair that once shown like molten gold. It was the first time in a long while the Grandmaster was faced with defeat at the game that defined his life as a child.

Across him, his opponent smiled. A terrible smile that stretched her dark, purple veins.

"Checkmate," declared Salem triumphantly. "Pity that even as a cripple, you would lose to someone who has never played chess- "

"Is that so?" scoffed Jansen. He tried to adjust his posture but all he felt was numbness from his shoulder down and he slammed the chessboard in rage. "How many times have we played this game, Salem?"

"Oh? Nice to know that your intelligence transcends this silly board game," The Grimm Queen smiled, the Time Stone glowed on her slender chalk white fingers. "Nine million nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine-hundred and ninety-nine times - you're a fast learner."

"Hah, most people only ever play me once. Is that what being Queen of Grimm gets you?"

"You see dear," laughed Salem, captivated by his defiance that few people in Remnant have ever dared to show her. "With _patience_ anything becomes possible. In this case, for a complete amateur to topple the youngest Grandmaster in Remnant. I hope you are still going to honor your word about the stakes involved?"

"I'd rather die than join you," spat Jansen. " _Monster._ "

Jansen struggled against his bonds in feral anger, toppling the chessboard and Emerald Summer instinctively reached for her weapon, the green Aura of Summer burning in her crimson eyes, but Salem calmly extended her hand and Emerald returned to her stoic stand.

Salem seemed eerily satisfied at being called a monster, she levitated across the study to Winter's frozen body and laid one finger on her pretty face.

"You don't fear death," said Salem as she caressed Winter's face gently and smiled. "We can't have that. Everyone has a price, dear. Especially when selling their soul to the devil. So I'm going to give you a reason to fear death again."

Jansen chuckled at the irony of Salem's words. He was now presented with the exact same temptation he offered Cinder Fall days before and right within the walls of this very castle.

"You're a smart boy, you know what I'm after," said Salem as she crossed the study and stood by Jansen's bed. "And you should know it's only a matter of _time_ before I get what I want. So why resist it? Why be on the wrong side of history? Once I'm done with the Infinity Stones and have created my new world, I would have no further use for them, I will need someone I can trust to use them. Make this girl your's. Heal your spine and walk again. Rule the new world. Tear Cinder Fall apart. Your imagination is the limit."

Salem picked up the chessboard and started to arrange the pieces.

"We're in the endgame now, Jansen. I need-"

"You need a commander."

Salem smiled. In all her years roaming Remnant, never had she been so impressed with a human's intellect quite like Jansen's, but to make her deal work she knew she needed to conceal how impressed she truly was.

"Very good. I need a commander who will bring me victory over the pathetic remnants of humanity as they make their last stand at Atlas to defend the last three Infinity Stones. I need someone who has an _intimate_ connection to Atlas- " Salem's blood red eyes fell on Winter Schnee and her lips curled. "You _love_ her, don't you my poor boy?"

"What do _Grimm_ know about love?"

"Much more than you think actually," chuckled Salem, levitating away from Winter and back to Jansen's side. Her red eyes devouring his dull silver ones hungrily.

"Save me the bullcrap. I'll agree on one condition."

"Name it."

"Cinder Fall. Alive."

Emerald's eyes lit up at the mention of Cinder's name.

"What would you want with my poor, broken, ex-servant?" chuckled Salem.

"So that I can tear her limb from limb when I rule over the new world- "

"Done."

The Silver Eyed Warrior extended his hand and shook the Grimm Queen's.

 **\- END -**

* * *

Author's Notes:

Phew, I'm finally done with this fic. A huge thank you to all you who have supported my writing, I know these words will never be enough but I'll say them anyways. Hope you guys had a great time with this fic so cheers!

I might be doing an overall breakdown for the narrative choices I made for this whole story (yes its going to be philosophical and literary) sometime in the future :)


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